Batman: Dark Protector, Act One
by Topaz Ingenious
Summary: After so long in Gotham, Batman wonders what he’s doing wrong. Fighting crime has gotten harder, and more menacing villans have come out of the shadows. Now, Batman must do the one thing he swore to never do, to stop crime. But what will happen afterwards?
1. Chapter One

The city has been unusually quiet the past couple days, and everyone knows why, but don't say a word about it.

Finally, Gotham is safer. Safest it's ever been. The grime has been snuffed out and a brighter future lies ahead, as the Caped Crusader has done the one thing so many would never have imagined: Taking justice into his own hands, the only way.

It all started over a month ago, when Batman was contemplating about his parents' legacy, and how his will compare. If his promise will be followed through. He's done a lot of good in Gotham, but recently, it's like crime is starting to get worse, and his efforts are futile.

He was in his Batcave at his computer, analyzing a murder, with ten other cases waiting to be solved.

And he knows it'll keep piling up. Elaborate and cruel murders in all. More villains are coming out of the woodwork, causing even more trouble. One wearing a Pig mask, of all things. As silly as that sounds, it isn't a joke. The bad guys don't see Batman as enough of a threat to stop their escapades anytime soon. There's only so many times you can see a monster before you convince yourself it isn't real.

It's been a long night, tackling the life of Batman and Bruce Wayne has gotten harder, and he's starting to wear himself thin. He hasn't slept in days, nor has he eaten anything in hours. Bruce knows this is getting too much for him, but he tells himself he just has to work harder. Every night he works harder than the last to stay on top; unfortunately, he's just sinking lower. Life is now like quicksand; the more you struggle, the faster you sink.

Alfred comes by and puts some food on a table near the computer, and Bruce ignores it out of his peripheral. Alfred then opens the lid and reveals some chicken with a note on it: "Just breathe, Master Wayne."

Bruce ignores it still, even if the smell is appealing.

Alfred has given up trying to get through to him, so he just puts the lid back on the tray, leaving the food on the table, and goes back to the Manor to relax.

Everyone has been trying to get through to Bruce, but he ignores them. Bruce finally stops and rests his arm on the computer, with one other hand covering his face. Anger. Fear. Hopelessness. Thoughts of doubt running through his mind. He gets up from his chair and takes a breather, tired of looking at a dead body on a screen, and the ten others waiting to be seen. And who knows what others are happening now.

How many with their faces cut off, or how many have smiles painted on them. Which one is in new Ridder trap. Or how many dismembered and in bandages.

Bruce walks to his suit and stares at the mask, scowling back at him for being weak. His phone rings and he lets it go to voicemail. A girl calling about the date he missed, again, and how their relationship is over and hangs up, only before she screams some obscenities at him. His phone rings again and it goes to voicemail. Bruce's eyes shoot up in fear as he hears Harvey Bullock say Gordon has been shot. It's not a major wound, but enough to be in the hospital. Bruce scoffs and rests his head over his Batsuit, breathing heavily. Gritting his teeth. He gets another call by Dick, calling to check up on him. Another voicemail. Then silence at last.

All the hidden rage and pain comes out in a terrible shout, causing bats to awake from their slumber and flutter about in the cave. The screeches infinite. Unrelenting. Bats are flying everywhere now. Bats begin to fly around Bruce now, cutting his shirt and gnashing away at him. He tries to fight them off, but it's no use.

In the Manor, Bruce has planted secret monitor screens around the house, in case of invasion, and Alfred sees the commotion unfold, and rushes as fast as he can to the cave. Fast at his age, of course. By the time he gets there, he finds Bruce is gone, along with the batsuit. Alfred shouts for Bruce, but he doesn't respond. "I'm sorry, Bruce." He whispers, as he begins to shed a tear.

Batman is atop a rooftop, surveying the city, taking a breather with his mask off. He contemplates a new direction for his crime-fighting, but he's too afraid to do it. Afraid of the repercussions. For the past week, he's been battling with himself. He presses the bridge of his nose and breathes heavily again, remorseful still. I can't do this. But I have to.

Then a couple blocks away, he sees an explosion. He scowls and puts his mask back on, determined it's now or never. He jumps from the rooftop and to his Batmobile, driving to the scene of the crime. A bank explosion.

There, Two-Face and his men are making a break for it and as they're rushing into the car, and go full speed away from the bank. Batman just arrives at the bank as they're leaving, but sees them turn a block before they disappear. Batman puts the pedal to the metall and darts towards them, trying his best to avoid destruction of public property, mostly. He tries to get a lock on the car and once he has it, he fires a missile at it. He missed it as it turns a corner, breaking apart a side of a building. The second time's the charm as the car flips over and lands on its top, smashing the vehicle completely.

He drives up near them and exits his Batmobile, walking towards the crashed heap of metal. The thugs frantically try to get out of the car, and one does, Batman catches them and smashes their head against the vehicle, repeatedly. He uses his grapnel gun to lure back an escaping thug, and he clotheslines them. Harvey comes in behind Batman, trying to land a hit but the vigilante elbows him from behind, grabs his head and slams him onto the ground. Another thug tries to fire his gun at Batman, but he's too fast for him, and the crusader throws a batarang at the assailant, knocking the gun out of his hand. He gets with close quarters with him and he breaks his jaw, then his arm, kicks his leg. As the criminal falls on his knee, Batman puts him in a headlock and kicks him in the back. He jerks back at his neck as he knocks him down, dislocating his spine and his neck.

The other thugs heard every bone crack, and they struggled to get to their feet to run away in fear. He throws batarangs at their legs, knocking them down. He catches up to them, grabs two of the criminals by the collar of their shirts, and slams their faces onto the ground. Harvey tries to land a freebie on Batman again, and he would've succeeded if the crusader wasn't fast to react. He grabs his hand and twists it, snapping it. He tries to hit him with his other hand, but he blocks that too. Batman head butts him and knocks him to the cement. Harvey tries to crawl away, bruised and angry. But he knows this a loss. It always has been. "There's something different...about you…" he struggles to speak.

He coughs up some blood and shouts back, "What have we ever done to you!?"

Batman steps on his back, stopping him from crawling away. "These games have gone on long enough."

Batman puts more weight on his foot, and continues. "And nothing's changed. But tonight,"

Batman picks him up and snarls angrily, "it will."

"You always say that." Harvey chuckles. "Nothing changes."

Harvey coughs up some blood and he barks back. "Same damn cell in the same damn prison!"

"There's always another cell.."

Batman turns him around and puts him in a head lock, and before he twists his neck, he apologizes. "I'm sorry, Harvey."

Then he snaps his neck, killing him as he falls to the ground as a lifeless sack of meat. The police arrive to see it unfold, and they're in disbelief. Five thugs, dead. Including Two-Face. One of the cops shout, "You just killed those guys!"

Batman stares at Harvey's body and answers back, "I know,"

He looks back at the cops and finishes, "But that's one less criminal."

He walks back to his Batmobile, and stops at the cops. "It's time I do things differently."

He gets into his car, and drives away as the cops get the bodies, one by one, to take to the Morgue.


	2. Chapter Two

The cops were on their way to the GCPD, still shaken up. Driving slower than normal. Quieter than the bodies in the back of the car.

The cop at the driver's seat, Harry, is barely breathing. He's afraid to speak. In worry of the bodies coming back to life. Or someone shooting him. The driver, Evan, feels the same way. He's handling it a little better than Harry, but he's still troubled too.

It's like every block they pass, the city gets quieter. Darker. The police band breaks the dead air and makes the cops jump. It was just a call about the money being returned to the bank.

The silence returns, then a car horn blairs, making them jump again. "Shit.." Harry whispers, grasping at his heart. Breathing heavily.

He turns his head to look at the back of the car, just in case. But nothing. No gun to the head. But he's still worried. "No one's gonna shoot us." Evan retorts.

"Someone else could." Harry worries.

Evan pulls over the car and to a curb. He takes a deep breath and speaks up, "We need to talk about Batman."

Harry gets wide-eyed and Evan goes on, "I don't know what's going on, but uh,"

Harry answers back, "I don't either."

Silence for a few seconds, then Harry says, "Maybe he finally went nuts."

Evan shakes his head, "Maybe."

"Things have been crazy lately." Harry continues. "Everyone else is too."

Evan then questions, "The thing that scares me the most, is how this will affect us? The GCPD, I mean."

He feels uneasy, and Harry does, too. "Those freaks deserve it." Harry barks back. "Killing people, stealing money."

Harry takes a moment to pause, and continues. "But what Batman's done, I feel this could be worse."

The dead silence continues and Evan finally speaks up, "I've wanted to shoot bad guys like these for so long, but I know what'd happen if I did."

Evan pats Harry on the back and goes on to say, "I'm here for ya, man"

Harry nods his head back. Evan gets out a cigarette, offers one to Harry, and he accepts. Evan puts the car back on drive and heads to the GCPD. Enduring the dead silence once more.

They go into an alternate entrance in the GCPD to go to the Morgue. Harry knocks on the door and a few minutes later, someone opens. Someone who analyzes dead bodies from crime scenes. Philip. Harry questions to Philip, "We need some help getting some bodies into the morgue."

Philip adjusts his glasses as he looks over Harry's shoulder, and he sees the bodies in the back of the car. "What's going on?"

"Batman. Had a run-in with some bank robbers. Two-Face was one of them. He killed them." Evan answers, sternly.

Philip looks at Evan dead in the eyes, then Harry. His face stricken with disbelief. "But...Batman doesn't kill."

"Apparently, he does now." Evan says back, scared.

Philip looks at the bodies again and remarks, "Lemme get the gurneys."

He clears his throat and leaves as the cops follow him. They put the bodies on the gurney and meanwhile, Philip asks, "Why don't you just bury them?"

Harry answers, "We're cops, not gravediggers."

Philip puts Harvey on a gurney and remarks back, "Very well.."

Evan strikes back, picking up a thug, "I would, but,"

He puts it on the roller and scoffs, "never mind."

Philip raises an eyebrow, shakes it off, and gets back to work. Harry has an idea to connect the gurneys together with a rope to make it easier, dragging the beds to the Morgue. So they don't have to make a trip back.

At the Morgue, they open up some cells and put the bodies in there. "Sorry to come in on such short notice." Harry apologizes.

Philip answers back, "It's no problem."

Evan peeks at his cig box, but puts it back in his pocket. He doesn't feel like it's a proper place to smoke. Philip asks for one for later, and Evan gives him one. He asks them after he puts it in his pocket, "So, does Gordon know about this yet?"

"Not yet," Evan answers. "But I bet he will in the morning."

Philip puts his hands on his hips and asks nervously, quietly, "Are you sure it was Batman?"

"We're sure. Had the same tech and everything." Evan replies.

Philip takes a deep breath and takes the cigar out of his pocket, leaving the room, "Excuse me for a moment."

Evan and Harry look at each other, and Harry looks at his watch. "I should get going. It's getting late."

Evan looks at his too, and raises an eyebrow. "Yeah. See ya in the morning, pal."


	3. Chapter Three

Morning arrives, and Bruce wakes from his sleep with a burden lifted from his chest, with more weighing him down. He rubs his head and opens his eyes, seeing the overcast through the windows. He takes his wine by the bedside and takes a swig, hoping everything will magically go away, but it never does.

He puts some clothes on and walks to the balcony, staring at the overcast. The ominous clouds looming over Gotham is like an omen. Bruce still has his wine in his hand and takes a smaller swig, and then he sets it on a pedestal by the door. This can't be good.

He walks downstairs and he looks around for Alfred, shouting his name. But he only gets an echo throughout the massive manor. Few minutes later, Alfred shows up with some bread. "You're up early."

Bruce smirks and remarks, "Had a nice rest."

Alfred gives him the tray to eat the bread off of, and Bruce apologizes, "Alfred, I'm sorry if I,"

Alfred stops him and he answers, "No need to apologize, Master Wayne. I understand your distress. I just wish you would let me in."

Bruce looks at Alfred, despondent, but Alfred continues. "But I guess this is a start."

Bruce nods back and finishes up his meal, then heads back to get ready for work. "Send some of those crime files back to the GCPD!" Bruce shouts on his way to his room.

Alfred looks shocked, but shouts back in approval. He then begins to rack his brain on how he got away with this, or if he did at all. Did you really sink so low? Alfred thinks to himself.

At Wayne Enterprises, Bruce is in a secret elevator to his RD lab, where Lucius Fox is working on refining some tech. He hears him walk into the massive room as his footsteps echo against the walls, and Lucius yells at him from a distance. "Morning, Mr. Wayne!"

"Morning." Bruce shouts back, less enthusiastic, naturally.

Lucius rolls up from under a Batmobile and asks when Bruce gets closer, "What is it today?"

"I was wondering what you're doing with the Batmobile."

"Well, just making it faster. That's the simple way of putting it."

Bruce notices this is a different Batmobile too, a bulkier one. "Pretty heavy duty." Bruce remarks.

"Say that like it's a bad thing."

Bruce smirks back, "No, no, no, it's fine. I just didn't expect you to make another one."

"Well, you were the one who said to stay prepared for anything."

Bruce looks around and sees sheets on top of displays. "Any one of these displays happen to be a Batsuit?" He smirks.

Lucius looks at him nonchalantly, and answers jokingly, "Those aren't for Batman. Other stuff."

"Sure." Bruce remarks. "You know you can work in the Batcave."

"Yes, but I prefer to work here. Keeps me focused without all those bats flying around."

Bruce asks Lucius if he needs any help and Lucius comes out from under the Batmobile again, and answers, confused, "Are you okay, Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm fine." Bruce replies, unconvincingly hiding a dark secret.

Lucius takes a deep breath and pauses as he responds back, "I don't know what's going on in your head, Bruce. But I just hope it isn't anything dangerous."

Recently, Bruce has told Lucius to double efforts to make better tech. All he said it was because things have gotten more serious, or he plans to. "I can do everything to protect Batman. But I can't protect the man behind the mask."

Bruce stands still like a rock and strikes back, "I'll be just fine. It's people like you that I worry about."

Lucius stands up from his cart and he asks Bruce, "That's what scares me. You worrying too much. I may be older, but I still got some fight in me."

Bruce nods back and he tells Lucius before he leaves, "Thanks for doing what you do."

Lucius nods back in agreement and he shouts back as Bruce is far enough away, "Whatever pays the bills!"

Bruce goes into the elevator, and as he sees his reflection through the metal, Batman stares back at him. There's no going back, Bruce thinks to himself. So there won't be. Batman responds in his modulated, monstrous voice.

His mind goes to Gordon, thinking about how he was shot. Recalling the horror he experienced when he heard the news. He heard it wasn't a critical wound, but he needs to see for himself. Bruce decides to call the GCPD to check where Gordon is, and what hospital he's in. An officer answers back saying he checked in last night, but he should be in Gotham General for a couple more hours. When he gets to the carport, he revs up his sportscar to the Gotham General. He feels a sense of urgency as he swerves in and out of traffic.

He checks in and goes to Gordon's room. Gordon sees Bruce and remarks, "I don't remember asking for a billionaire nurse."

"I'm just checking in on you. I heard you were shot." Bruce replies, scared.

Gordon pulls up a bandage with two bulletwounds in between his ribcage. "I insisted on letting it heal, but the other cops had another idea."

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asks, concerned.

He takes a pause and answers back, "Better now. Hurt like hell then."

Bruce gets a little closer to the bed and states, "You should learn to take people's advice. They might be right."

Gordon chuckles. "Maybe." He remarks. "Maybe." He says quieter, more sincere.

"I should learn to do the same." Bruce retorts.

Gordon looks at Bruce and asks him, "The Batman," Gordon starts, takes a pause as he breathes a little. Bruce feels a sense of fear run through him. "You said you knew 'im." He finishes.

Bruce takes a breather as his fear is proven false. He looks around to make sure no one's listening. Gordon continues. "Where was he? I had the Batsignal on for hours."

Bruce answers back, trying to stay calm. "He was elsewhere. Maybe the city was getting to him."

"What was he doing?!" Gordon whispers as he can't speak louder than a noisy whisper. "He could've helped us."

"He had a run-in with Two-Face and his men. He killed them."

Gordon's face shifted from disappointment to speechlessness. Dumbfoundedness. He looks around the room as if it'll give him answers. Millions of thoughts run through his head. "What kinda drugs did those doctors give me?!" He shouts, confused.

"It's real, Gordon."

Gordon holds a gaze with Bruce, trying to piece together everything. "He told me last night. He looked more serious than usual. I could see it in his eyes. I could see the anger in his eyes. He told me what had happened when I finally got through to him. It wasn't easy."

Gordon still locks his gaze with Bruce, and after about an eternity later, Gordon finally looks away. He looks to a tray to his right, and the bullets that were taken out of his body lie there. He picks up a bullet and holds it in his hands. He looks at the bullet and then at Bruce, and replies back with a half-smile. "It's about damn time."


	4. Chapter Four

Bruce looks at Gordon, shocked. "What do you mean?" He says finally.

Gordon looks at the bullet for a bit and answers back, "I've tried to stay true to the law. By the book. That meant trusting the system. That the bad guys would be taught a lesson."

He forms a fist with the bullet in his hand, forming it lightly. "When Batman came around, I actually thought we'd get somewhere. For a while, we did. Then they got smarter. Even worse."

Gordon looks at Bruce and continues. "I woke up every day, sometimes during the night, thinking about putting a bullet through those bastard's heads for the longest time. But I knew there'd be hell to pay."

Gordon squeezes his fist a little tighter. "And I'm not rich enough to pay off the devil."

Gordon takes a pause and then a deep breath. "Never would, anyway."

The commissioner starts to shake his head with disgust. "What would've happened to Barbara? The other people I care about? The system was broken."

Bruce stands there, listening to every word, letting Gordon say everything he needs to. The old man squeezes his fist tighter, smiling back at Bruce. "But someone finally pulled the trigger. And it was the Batman."

His smile disappeared as he unclenched his fist and he asked Bruce, "But now there's a target on all our backs. GCPD. Batman. If anyone finds out,"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Bruce remarks.

Gordon stops in his tracks and asks, worried. "You what?" Jim whispers. "Why?"

"Because we're friends, Jim."

Gordon chuckles and then winces as the wounds shoot pain through his side, and then smiles. "Well," Jim remarks as he takes a pause, then continues, "thanks."

Gordon puts the bullet back on the tray and asks Bruce. "But what about you?"

Bruce answers back, trying to remain confident. "Don't worry. I've had a PR shakeup before. I can afford it."

"Never tell a dad not to worry." Jim retorts.

"But you can ask them to have trust." Bruce remarks.

Jim smiles back and Bruce looks at his watch. "I have to get going. Pressing matters at hand."

"Take care, Bruce."

He opens the door and leaves the room, only taking a deep breath when he's out. _Not the worst that can happen._ He thinks to himself. _But it could be._


	5. Chapter Five

Back at the Manor, Bruce is roaming around the house, looking at pictures. He stops at the Wayne Family picture frame, seeing himself as a kid. Everything was so much easier then. Back when the biggest issue was how to tie his shoes.

He hears some footsteps nearby. Not exactly stealthy. He turns his head to see Dick, and Bruce remarks. "I hope that wasn't you being stealthy."

"And I hope that wasn't you cracking a joke." Dick strikes back.

Dick smirks back. "Long time no see!"

Bruce cracks a little smile and asks. "How's Bludhaven?"

Dick crosses his arms and replies nonchalantly. "It ain't so bad. Every now and then there's a few close calls. Nothing I can't handle."

He takes a pause as he asks Bruce. "How's Gotham?"

"Still dirty as ever." Bruce responds.

Dick lets his arms fall as he looks at Bruce with a certain amazement, though he expected as much. "Thought you'd say that.."

Alfred comes around the corner and sees Dick, exclaiming. "Master Grayson!"

Dick shouts back as he walks towards Alfred to give him a hug, but Alfred almost slips on a step and uses the railing to catch himself. Dick rushes to his aid, and so does Bruce. "I'm quite fine, thank you." Alfred ensures.

"Are you sure?" Bruce asked, cautious.

"Yes, yes." Alfred answers.

Alfred stands to his feet as Bruce and Dick help him up. Alfred motions to them that he's all right. He stands on his own and he looks to Dick. "Now, where was I?"

He offers a hug again, and Dick hugs back, scared. Seconds later, the Batsignal shines through the darkness of the night sky. Bruce looks at Dick, "Take Alfred to bed and make sure he doesn't go down any stairs."

"On it." Dick replies.

Alfred tries to protest but Dick tells him he'll be fine. Bruce looks at the Batsignal again and lets the dark in as he heads to the Batcave. He suits up and mounts his Batmobile as he drives away as fast as he can to the GCPD, making sure not to run late this time. He launches out of the car and onto the roof of the precinct, safely parking the car by the station. Jim turns around and sees Batman. "Heard the car a mile away." Jim jokes.

"What's the situation?" Batman asks.

Jim pulls out his lighter to light a cigar. "Everyone's favorite arsonist."

"Firefly." Batman replies.

"Yeap." Jim answers back as he puts the cigar into his mouth.

He takes it out and puffs some smoke before he continues. "We were getting reports of crazy fires, then someone said they saw a man in a jetpack and a flamethrower. Before they could say anything else, there were screams."

He puts the cigar back into his mouth and mumbles. "My guess is, they were burned alive."

He puffs more smoke and answers back. "Can't imagine what that felt like."

"Do you know where he is?" Batman asks, trying to stay calm.

Jim adjusts his glasses as he puts his hands in his pockets. "Not yet. And I'm not exactly in condition to help out just yet. I was shot last night and the nurses said I should be resting. Thought I'd come out for your sake."

"I'll look into this situation. You go home, Jim."

Gordon scoffs. "Not until I'm sure Firefly is found."

"I'll grapnel to the tallest building and see what I can find." Batman adds.

If Dick wasn't tending to Alfred, either one of them could access the Batcomputer for confirmed sightings of Firefly, narrowing down the search. So before he leaves, Batman asks Gordon what the confirmed locations are or were. It takes a few minutes for Jim to recall the hotspots.

Gordon's mind goes back to the visit he had with Bruce earlier. Batman killing Harvey Dent. He decides not to say anything. Batman walks to the ledge and jumps and lands on top of the Batmobile.

The tallest building in Gotham is a few blocks away, so it shouldn't take long. It's the Gotham City News Network Center. Near the center of the city. There's a big antenna with a small platform around it with an elevator leading up to it. Reaches up to the skies. The platform and elevator is for easier maintenance whenever there's a dodgy signal.

Batman exits his car and begins his journey up to the antenna. He then perks on the platform, keeping a watchful eye and tuning his audio receiver to the police band and to hear things around him better. Utilizing the tactics he has at his disposal to find the arsonist.

For a while, there's nothing. He waits for twenty minutes and nothing still. He can still hear so he knows nothing's broken. He's looking around the city. No sign of a jetpack or sound of an explosion. "Anyone found Firefly yet?" Officer Harry asks on the police band. Clearly some of the police are on the lookout for him.

"None yet. An hour ago, the band lit up. Now, nothing." Another answers.

"Maybe he just wants us to think he's had his fun for the night." Another points out.

"Possible. He's bound to attack again though. He loves his flamethrower." Evan responds.

"None up here either." Batman adds. "Keep a sharp eye."

Minutes pass, and someone says something. "Wait! I think I-"

The police band lights up as they assume he's dead. Someone asks where he is, and someone says he was Number #5 on the lookout squad at a specific building in Park Row. "I'm going in." Batman demands.

Batman jumps off the platform and falls back to Earth and into the Batmobile, speeding as fast as he can. He then catches sight of Firefly and he blasts fire at Batman's ride, luckily for Batman, his car is fireproof. Batman drives through the blaze and turns his car around as Firefly is still in the air, flying away. Batman shoots a hook from the front of his Batmobile, hoping to be fast enough to latch onto the arsonist before he gets away. He almost does, but it seems like he's made modifications to his jetpack, or someone else did. He's moving faster than usual.

Batman reels the hook back in and rushes to Firefly. The arsonist sprays a wall of fire as the Batmobile easily runs through it. Firefly keeps going around corners to keep Batman on his toes, and to avoid the winch from that Batmobile. _Smart for someone that decided to burn himself._ Bruce thinks.

Batman decides to mix it up and starts firing missiles at the pyromaniac, doing it carefully so it doesn't cause any property damage. He tries to lock on him to fire the winch at him. The number of corners for the fire chaser to take is wearing down, and the fuel in his jetpack should be running low. Batman can see him slowing down. _Faster isn't always better, Firefly._ He takes his shot and fires the winch at a wing of his jetpack, dismantling it, then he tears off the other one.

Batman launches himself out of the Batmobile and catches the pyromaniac as he falls and they fly through a window into a building.

Firefly is trying to catch his breath after being ambushed so hard. When he does, he musters a sentence finally. "You'll burn one day, Batman! And I'll be there to see it!"

Batman gets to his feet as he snarls back, "No, you won't."

He punches a hole in the glass of his helmet and punches his lights out. Now he has to finish the job. Batman remembers what Gordon said. What would happen if people found out he killed someone. How there will be hell to pay. Batman clenches his fists as he contemplates the decision. Then he remembers the people were burned alive earlier, and how much damage was caused during the chase. An officer dead. Batman fights a battle within himself and finally he thinks to himself. _You have to do it. One less murderer on the streets._

So he grits his teeth and he starts pounding Firefly's face, forcing himself to do it. Forcing himself to break his rule once again. After ten powerful, punishing hits, it's safe to assume he's dead. His helmet beaten to hell. His scarred face even more so now. His skull with a big dent.

The crusader finally stands to his feet and announces over the police band that Firefly is down. He gives his location for pickup. After the announcement, Batman closes his eyes and tells himself it'll be okay. He calls for his Batmobile and uses to fire a winch at a building he's at as he carries Firefly down the cable back to ground level for the police to find him.

Batman detaches the winch and jumps back into his car, returning to the Batcave, left wondering still how Firefly got access to new equipment. The main candidates are usually Black Mask or Penguin. But for now, Bruce just wants to be alone, thinking about he's done. And what will come of it.


	6. Chapter Six

During the cold dark of the night, a thief lurks in the shadows, moving as silent as a mouse. She crawls atop a roof of a museum, trying to stay undetected from the GCPD patrols that are wrapping up and getting ready to head back to the station. Evan and Harry, who were on opposite ends of the building to get more visual during patrol, but meet up again when it was over.

"So you think Batman did it again?" Harry asks Evan.

"Maybe. I sure as hell hope not." Evan replies.

The thief focuses on the task at hand, but perks up when she hears the words, _Batman._ Evan adds as he puts a cigar in his mouth. "Once wasn't enough."

A pause and then during the silence, Harry replies, albeit with a delayed response.

"We should get going."

Evan puffs some smoke as he answers back. "Yeah."

They walk away from the ledge and they head towards the stair room. But the thief will be seen if she isn't quick enough, and if she's too quick, they'll hear her. She decides to hide behind the cover she's already at, even if it's too close to the cops.

She wanders around the cover to avoid detection, and when they're gone, the thief finally stands up. _Finally.._

She heads to the glass ceiling and gets her claws out to make an opening, setting the big hunk of glass to the side. She whips out her grappling hook and descends down to the museum, utilizing the laser detection spray. But there are no lasers to be seen. _What the hell?_ She thinks.

She still makes sure to spray, just in case. But she does see cameras. She believes it's from Wayne Industries. He's been cracking down lately. _Nice try,. But it won't work._

The thief sees a giant jewel, and her eyes light up. _Come to mommy._ She then sees a giant blast door, a vault. _Perfect._

She makes her way to the big display case for the jewel, and she smirks as she thinks about Bruce cracking down on burglary attempts, but didn't bother to implement better lasers. _Seriously Bruce, this is too easy!_

She sprays more of her spray, just in case. She starts her incision on the display case, eventually she gets a hold of the jewel and puts it in her satchel. She sprays the ground before she dismounts, and happily struts to the vault. She opens it, only to see a large expanse of metal, with nothing inside. _What the hell?!_

Then the alarms sound, the lights shut on, and the floor opens up beneath her, dropping her to a cage that shuts behind her, slowly lifting upwards back to surface level. The thief sits there, dumbfounded. _Dammit Bruce._

She thinks about those cops that were here earlier, probably still are, and they're likely near this level by now. _Think Selina, think._

Selina tries everything but it won't work, and then the cops come in. "Selina Kyle!" Harry shouts, next to Evan as they hold guns at the thief.

Selina huffs and murmurs to herself. "Crap."

Then, from above, a man in black and blue tights drops in. The officers put the guns back in their holsters and Evan exclaims. "Nightwing!"

"I'll take it from here, officers." He remarks.

Dick stops for a sec as he realizes something's missing. "Where are the lasers?"

The officers look around and Harry shouts, "Holy crap."

"So I _wasn't_ crazy." Selina jokes. "Just get me out of here."

Dick makes his way to the cage as the officers call in the burglary attempt and successfully thwarting one. Harry gives him the keys to open the cage, and Selina doesn't bother to struggle. "Good work, Master Grayson." Alfred comes in over the comms at the Batcomputer.

"All in a night's work." Dick answers back.

He delivers them to the cops in their police car, and Dick bids his farewell. Before they leave, Dick looks at Selina and remarks. "Say hi to your cellmates for me."

"Screw off." Selina barks back.

As the cops stand by the car before getting in the car, Dick tells them there must've been someone here already, which is why the alarms were disabled. "Whoever it was obviously left when the alarms sounded. I didn't see anyone." He adds.

"We'll give word to the Commissioner, Nightwing. Thanks." Evan responds.

Selina overheard the conversation through the window, and the thought occurred to her, as well. The cops get into the car and drive away as Nightwing talks to Alfred, "Did you get that?"

"Yes, I did."

"Do the cameras around the museum say anything?"

"It seems they were arriving in some sort of van. I can't get an angle to see who it belongs to."

"So no license plate?"

"None, sir."

"Thanks, Al."

Batman drives up with his Batmobile and Nightwing says he's on his way back. "I'll be off comms for a bit." He says to Dick.

Batman exit the Batmobile and sees Alfred, reminding him. "You should be in bed."

Alfred stands up and answers back. "There was something more important than me."

Alfred looks Bruce dead in the eyes as he takes off his mask. "I need to tell you something, too."

Alfred takes a deep breath, pauses, and gathers the strength to get it off his chest. "I saw the replay of the other night. I saw you kill Harvey Dent."


	7. Chapter Seven

Bruce freezes in his tracks as Alfred speaks. Anger and guilt flush through his face. Normally, Bruce has a camera in his lens in his cowl to record everything so he could observe it for later. Look over details he might've missed, observe how someone fights. "That's why I was so distraught earlier. I had _hoped_ to have a word with you, but Dick was with you, and I had no idea how to put into words...how disappointed I was." Alfred looks Bruce dead in the eyes with worry and doubt. "How could you do this?"

Bruce takes off his mask and answers Alfred, "I learned." His voice stern but sympathetic. Afraid.

Alfred's face fills with grief as he asks Bruce. "And did you kill that Firefly tonight, too?"

"I had to." Bruce answers.

Alfred looks at the ground and then at Bruce, taking a pause. "Things were getting worse, Alfred. Batman wouldn't be enough."

"Then fight harder."

"I did. Things were getting out of hand. Fear and a few broken bones wouldn't have been enough. They aren't afraid of Batman anymore."

"And being a _murderer_ will _solve_ it?" Alfred barks back.

Bruce goes silent, afraid of the thoughts going through his head. "When you put on that cowl, I worried for you. Worried of what you'd do out there. Of what you became. You're a child from a dark alley that grew up too fast, and no matter how much I wanted to think it, fear raised you. I never did."

"But you're still my father."

"How much of it?" Alfred questions, his face filled with guilt. Sorrow.

Bruce gets quiet again as Alfred continues. "I never wanted you to see your parents die. I never wanted you to live your life in anger. In fear."

Alfred gets heated and starts shouting. "I never wanted you to join the League of Assassins! And I never wanted you to throw your life away!"

Alfred gets weak and he clutches his chest and Bruce runs towards him, holding him as he begins to fall, clumsily holding onto a chair as he does. Bruce carries him to the medical bay in the Batcave and starts hooking him up. When he's done, he rests a hand on Alfred's chest as the Heart Monitor comes online. "I'm sorry, Alfred."

Thoughts run through his head and anger at himself overwhelms him as he looks at a nearby mirror, seeing himself still in his Batsuit. _What the hell am I supposed to do?_

He thinks about Dick. He's on his way back. Sooner or later he'll wonder where Alfred's been. He pulls a curtain around the bed and goes to get out of the Batsuit. _Alfred's strong._ Bruce thinks. _He'll get through this._

He tells himself this to make matter easier, but he knows it won't be that goes up to his room in the Manor and stands by the balcony with the moonlight coming in through the glass door, watching a thunderstorm. He takes a swig of the whiskey in his hand and he watches as it begins to rain. He listens to the symphony of pattering, watching as the raindrops fall down the glass door. One after another. He takes another swig of his whiskey and takes a second look at the glass as he sees a red raindrop He blinks twice and he only starts to see more appear.

The rain turns to blood as it stains the glass. Bruce takes a step back from the glass and drops his bottle, looking down at it as the blood moves across the floor. Then, almost in an instant, the doors burst open as a giant, horrifying bat speeds through the pane. Bruce falls back, terrified. It screeches as thousands of other bats fly in behind him, all joining in a cacophonous ballad of horror. Bruce tries to run away. Crawl away. Anything. But there's no way out as the bats engulf him. He wakes up in terror as he sits up from his bed, clasping his face as beads of hot sweat stain his hands. He looks at his hands to make sure there isn't blood, and there isn't. He takes a sigh of relief.

He hopes that the argument with Alfred was a dream, but it likely wasn't.


	8. Chapter Eight

It's morning, and some of the gang leaders are in a meeting, held by Penguin.. Harley. Bane. Riddler. Deadshot. Killer Croc. Scarecrow. Clayface. All are attending as Penguin promised a means to stop the Batman. Deadshot is here for the money and for security reasons. There are plenty more gang leaders to invite to the meeting, but were deemed too dangerous or they didn't care. One of them being the Joker.

Penguin starts off with shortly congratulating everyone's efforts, and going over a recap. Covering every angle of Gotham they can to keep an eye out for Batman, or to get information on him. Doing multiple things at once to keep him guessing and occupied. But Penguin has to silence everybody and tell them to get along, and eventually he gets fed up and uses Deadshot to quiet things down. Finally he finishes and notices something's off. "Wait a bloody minute.." He starts, pausing, looking around the room. "Where's Harvey?"

Everyone starts looking around and the noise starts up again as Deadshot fires into the air to calm things back down. Penguin shouts angrily, "I'm gunna wring 'is neck!"

"Gonna have to reach it first!" Riddler jokes.

This causes the room to start laughing and when it calms down, Penguins shouts to Deadshot in the back. "Oi! Shoot 'em for me, ye?"

Bane raises his hand as if he's giving a command, and Deadshot stands down. Bane lets his hand rest on his knee and looks at one of Penguin's men behind him. "One of you should call Harvey."

A thug pulls out his phone and calls Harvey. Philip has been here for thirty minutes or so. He's decided to drop in early and work on some cases forwarded to him recently, previously taken by Batman. Philip is humming to himself, playing some orchestral music. He then hears a phone ring, and freezes in his tracks. It's not his ringtone. He pauses his music to listen to the origin of the tone. It's from the door where Harvey is stored. "That's odd." Philip talks to himself.

He looks around and sees dead bodies examined, stored, and killed. "Maybe I am going mad." He adds.

He opens the door carefully and the ring is louder, now that it's not behind metal. Philip searches Harvey's pockets for his phone, and sees there is in fact a call. He decides to answer the haunting tune. "Hello?"

The thug looks at his phone and shouts back at the unknown caller, expecting Harvey. "Who the hell is this?!"

Philip covers the phone and looks around, then he uncovers it and answers back. "I-Wait, who are you?!"

"That doesn't matter. Where's Harvey?!"

"He's dead. Batman killed him."

The thug freezes now, speechless. "What?" He answers back, shocked. Quieter.

"Batman killed him. And five of his men a couple nights ago. He's in the GCPD Morgue."

The thug looks at Penguin and hangs up his phone. Philip looks at his phone and sees they hung up. He shrugs and throws the phone in the trash. "Well, whad'ye got, son?" Penguin asks the caller.

"Batman--"

The thug pauses for a second and finishes. "He killed him."

Penguin's face turns to horror. "He's in the GCPD Morgue." The thug adds.

The room goes quiet for a moment, and all of a sudden, Penguin busts out laughing. "It's about damn time!" Penguin shouts in glee.

Harley shouts, "I can't wait to tell Mr. J!"

Everyone rejoices, except Bane and Deadshot, who are the quiet ones. Then everyone goes quiet again as they realize what this means. "Well," Penguin murmurs. "Looks like we're gonna have ta switch things up."

"We knew this would break him." Bane adds. "But now, the fight begins. Now, we know that we have an affect on the Bat. He will fight harder. So will we. And I will be ready."

"Well not all of us have some fancy green steroid juice!" Harley remarks.

"Me, Croc, and Clayface will be the muscle." Bane adds.

"But this is a marvelous discovery." Scarecrow informs. "He is not some supernatural entity. He is a man. Vulnerable. And we can destroy him."

Riddler smirks at Scarecrow. "I had my differences with you. But I like where you're going with this."

Penguin takes the cigar out of his mouth and puffs some smoke and states. "Well that's that."

He picks up the gavel and bangs the podium, shouting. "Meeting adjourned!"


	9. Chapter Nine

After the meeting, Penguin goes to Clayface and tells him to go undercover as a police cop to go into the GCPD to confirm if Two-Face has, in fact, been killed. He agrees and shapeshifts into another Penguin thug and takes him near the GCPD. Clayface gets out of the car and shifts to a citizen, and heads inside.

Inside he is greeted by officers and he asks about a murder he just witnessed. The citizen is obviously shaken up, scared. "It wasn't far away!" The man exclaimed.

They exit the GCPD and, as they do, the man shifts his hands to clay-like saws and stabs them in the back. He then takes the bodies to Penguin's car where they'll put their bodies in a bodybag and toss them in the lake. Clayface then shifts to one of the officers he killed, Officer Cain, and goes back to the precinct. He heads to the next room and asks an officer by the desk where the Morgue is. Officer Jane asks Cain, confused. "You've been here for years. Why would you need to know?"

Cain smirks and remarks back. "I got really wasted last night."

"Fair enough." Jane responds, then leads with a question. "But from the nights I've spent with you and your friends, I've seen you handle it pretty well."

Cain furrows his brow a bit, shocked. He had expected this'd be much easier. "And your boys can attest, too." Jane adds.

"I had something stronger last night." Cain answers after thinking of an answer.

Jane tilts her head some, looking Cain dead in the eyes but decides to let him go, shrugging. "All right. I'll take it. This was fairly recent so I can understand."

Jane then tells Cain where the Morgue is, and on his way, he runs into James who asks about how he blew him off for the hangout they had planned last night. It was the third time. "I thought we had an agreement!"

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to-"

"Save it." James interrupts.

He side steps out of his way and Cain continues on his way as Jane is not too far away, hearing bits of the conversation through a door. Gears start working through her head but she isn't quite sure what this means. "Morning." An officer greets Cain on his way to the Morgue as he thinks to himself. _Stop talkin' to me. I'm busy here._

Another cop, Amy, walks up to Cain and asks him as she wraps her arm around his, stopping him in his tracks. She looks up to Cain and asks. "Are we still on for tonight?"

She gets closer to him and he answers back, trying to act concerned. "Oh yeah, we're still on. I'll make it real special."

Amy smiles back and plants a kiss on his cheek as she leans in to his ear and whispers softly, "There's more where _that_ came from."

Penguin then comes in through the comms in Cain's other ear. "Stop jackin' off and get to the Morgue!"

Amy backs away a bit and asks, conflicted. "What the hell was that? I heard someone talking through your ear. What's going on?"

"Nothing, babe." Cain answers back.

Amy perks up a little, smiling. "You've never called me _babe_ before. I like it."

Cain's brow furrows up again and then goes with it. "Well, there's more where _that_ came from."

Amy blushes and snaps back into reality. "I should let you get back to work." She responds. "See you tonight."

"Sure thing." Cain answers back.

Penguin groans over the comms again and Cain goes back on his way to the Morgue. As he opens a door to head deeper into the precinct, Amy feels something on her lips when she kissed his cheek. She rubs it off her lips and sees a clay-like white substance from his face. "What the _hell?"_ Amy talks to herself.

She looks back at the door where Cain left, and thinks about going after him, but her attention is needed elsewhere when a captain asks for something. On his way down, he hears orchestral music. _Damn it. What now?_ Cain thinks.

He keeps his cool as he walks down the halls. "Ah!" A voice shouts. Philip. Cain is caught off guard and jumps as the voice scared him. Thinking he had caught him. "Fingerprints burned off with acid. Rather tragic."

Cain walks through a window and sees a man surrounded by dead bodies. _Jesus._ He thinks. _Talking to the dead._ Cain makes his way to the open quarters of the Morgue and meets face-to-face with Philip, looking to find the other faces. Philip turns to see Cain and remarks. "Ah, Officer Cain! Nice of you to drop in." He turns off his music and adds. "summoned up the urge to go down here, yes? What is your business here?"

Cain freezes in his tracks, shocked once more. He steels himself and answers back.

"I'm here looking for Two-Face." Cain states, looking around at the bodies in storage. "I wanted to see if it was true. If the Bat really did kill someone."

"I wouldn't blame you." Philip remarks back. "I've looked over the body. The neck was snapped. I still have trouble accepting it was him."

He makes his way to the storage door where Two-Face is stored, pulling it out and the stench of death has long set in and Cain's nose twitches in disgust, plugging it. "Jesus!" Cain shouts, trying not to gag. "He really is dead…"

"As are five of his men."

Cain looks at Philip, who is having trouble processing this, too. "You always figure it'd happen, but you're never ready when it does." Philip rolls the door back and closes it, seemingly unaffected by the stench of death all around the room. "But I don't know anyone else in Gotham that would do this, but him. Heard it was a bank robbery and Batman took them out."

Cain unplugs his nose with the smell of rot and decomposition dispersing throughout the Morgue, definitely in a wider place than in a storage door. He looks at Philip who seems distraught. Heartbroken. "But, I like to, uh, look at this at a different way. Then I think of that coin in the evidence locker, and I can't bring myself to accept it."

Cain walks over to Philip and tries to comfort him. "It'll be okay. "

Philip nods back and takes a deep breath as he responds back. "Now, back to business as usual."

He turns the music back on and Cain heads back out through a door leading to the Morgue. Once outside, Cain talks to Penguin and answers back. "It was _real_ , all right."

Penguin busts out laughing and exclaims. "So it is true! Always hated that wanker. Good work, son."

Penguin's car comes back around to the precinct and Clayface walks back into the vehicle as a thug as Oswald demands. "Tomorrow mornin', we move in on Two-Face's turf. And ain't nobody gonna stop us!"

"I'm lookin' forward to it, Mr. Cobblepot." A thug in the car says to Penguin.

Oswald's in the back seat with Clayface as he looks up to him, smiling. "And I got _just_ the thing!"


	10. Chapter Ten

Harley is in the Funhouse, watching some Joker goons play around as they have a dead cop chained up against a giant psychedelic disc. A cop already impaled by multiple knives. A goon takes out the knives and gives them back to the others. "Fire it up again!"

A clown giggles as he starts up the machine again as five men try throwing knives at the dead cop while he's spinning at a high rate of speed, laughing as they do so. One finally manages to get him in the head and he cheers as he does. Harley gets bored and then remembers what she heard about Batman earlier and decides to leave to look for Joker. Her face lights up as she skips across the Funhouse, the bumbling goons more distant the further she goes into the tent. She goes to the usual places and he's not at either one of them. Her last place to check is the Control Room, shouting, "Mistah J! I got something special for you!"

She then hears screaming below her. Pained cries. The laughter she knows too well. The laughter grows in intensity with each second as blood-curdling cries of pain leave an echo long after it's gone. She opens a hatch at her feet as the volume increases. She hears the sizzle of a branding iron and someone crying out in pain once more as Joker laughs over the screams.

The room is lit only by green and purple LED lights arranged all over. Some barely working at all. But at the center of the room is a big ceiling light that hangs over a bloodied and beaten Jason Todd and the cold killer. Jason is in a tight knot that Joker tied himself, and made sure it was tied tight. The ropes are wrapped against metal prongs in the ground to prevent him from going anywhere. Joker gets on top of the flightless bird and starts stepping on him like he's dancing, laughing. When he turns around after dancing, he sees Harley. "Oh, Harley!"

Joker gets down and kicks Jason before he does, looking back at him and apologizing, looking concerned. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there!"

Joker gives Harley the branding iron shaped like a Batsymbol and asks, happily. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"I got something to tell ya first!" Harley exclaims.

"I doubt it's as important as breaking the chip off the ol' Bat block!"

"No," She starts. "It's much better!"

Joker shrugs it off, scoffing. "No, I don't think so." He takes out a gun and fires warning shots at Jason's head, then proceeding to shoot at his feet and act surprised. In the midst of his laughter, Jason spits back, barely able to speak from all the screaming. "Screw...you!"

Joker points the gun at Jason's head, smiling devilishly. Then Harley spills the beans. "It's about Batman." She starts off, knowing it'd get his attention.

Joker looks good at her from his peripheral as he adds. "Well?"

Harley takes him by the arm and whispers, "Can't say it front of Batsy-Junior."

Joker scoffs as his personal time is being interrupted. "Cmon!"

"Fine."

They go back up the hatch and Harley closes it tight. "Two-Face. Batman killed Harvey."

Joker paues for a moment, remarking. "I'll handle the jokes around here." Joker remarks, unconvinced. "Batman doesn't kill." He adds in a bored, disappointed voice.

"It's true! I was at a meeting with Ozzy and one'a his lackeys tried calling Harvey. Someone said his faces was in the GCPD morgue."

"Someone probably bumped Ozzy on his little head again. He's lying." Joker quips, and puts the gun back into his pocket, snatching the branding iron from Harley and twirling it around. "I'm going back to something much more fun."

Before Joker goes back down, Harley caresses the clown and adds sweetly. "Would I lie to you?"

The clown stops for a second and answers back, remembering. "No, you wouldn't. But Batman?"

He slides Harley away and walks around for a bit, snapping back to reality. He chuckles and beams with delight at the thought, even a possibility that Batman may have gone mad. "This is the best day ever!"

He starts to chuckle some more and moments later he wipes away tears of joy and turns to Harley. Joker tells her she can finish up, giving her back the iron. "Do whatever you want, my dear." He insists happily. "I've got something better to do."

Harley plants a kiss on the sadistic clown's cheek as she walks over to Robin, branding him some more, while Joker heads to a private room where he devises and constructs his plans. Now, what can I do for my bestest friend in the world?


	11. Chapter Eleven

"You want to do _what?"_ Lucius looks at Bruce, baffled.

"I want to send some of my tech to the GCPD." Bruce clarifies.

Lucius rests his hand on a table and leans on it as he tells Bruce. "But what about the secret identity? The safety concerns?"

"I'll take care of it. I'll say Batman decided to lend a helping hand."

Bruce looks at Lucius, concerned. "Gordon was _shot_ just days ago."

Lucius stands straight now, shocked. "Gordon was _shot?_ "

"Yes. Maybe he forgot a bulletproof vest." Bruce answers.

"What about the other officers?"

"I'm not talking about Batman armor. But enough for protection."

Lucius pauses for a second, clarifying. "Mister Wayne, I appreciate you looking out for these civil servants, but I signed a contract years ago. Back when this all started. To not share this tech because you thought it'd be too dangerous."

"And thank you for keeping the deal for this long, but I'm going to fix my contract. The police can only do so much on their own." Bruce adds. "the Batman won't be there every time."

Bruce walks a little closer, pausing as he smirks. "And throw in a little _black_ in there."

Lucius chuckles and answers. " _All right_ , Mister Wayne. I'll do it."

Bruce then smiles back and thanks Lucius as he adds another point. "Make some guns, but make them non-lethal. And keep the cars weapons-free."

"Right you are, Mister Wayne." Lucius answers back. "Anything else?"

"Keep this between us. We'll ship out the supplies to the GCPD when you're done." Bruce demands.

"No problem." Lucius responds.

Before he leaves, Lucius tells Bruce that Selina is back in Gotham, and has already been arrested. "Just can't stay away, can she?" Lucius shakes his head, but he looks up to Bruce, smiling. "Maybe she came back for something. Or _someone?_ "

Bruce doesn't smile back, thinking of how he was so close last time. So close to having her, but she left. Lucius's smile fades away as he remembers that moment in time. "My apologies," Lucius starts. Bruce interrupts him. "No, don't be. There's no room for her in this life."

Bruce's face fills with grief. "Or in either of them."

"But there could be." Lucius tries to calm him down, but Bruce doesn't accept it.

"It's too dangerous. Robbing banks and museums is one thing. Facing Gotham's criminals is another."

"She could surprise you." Lucius informs.

"I already took a risk with Dick, Barbara, and…" He pauses for a moment, remembering Jason. He doesn't say his name but he finishes with pain in his voice. "I don't want anything to happen to her. I can't."

Lucius looks at Bruce with concern and finishes. "I understand, but reconsider sometime. Maybe not a team-up, per se, but something else. The city can wait one night."

"You know as well as I do about everything that can happen in one night in this city." Bruce clarifies, hinting at something he can't say just yet.

"She came back here for you. You may never get this chance again." Lucius adds. "while I would like for your _friend_ not be a criminal, it really is the closest option you have."

Bruce cracks a little smile. "I won't make any promises."

"But it sounds like a maybe." Lucius jokes back.

Bruce walks closer to him so he can talk back and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Take care."

He walks away back to the elevator that he came through, and Lucius shakes his head playfully, not hearing a comeback. Bruce thinks about Selina and knows what Lucius meant. _One night._ He thinks. _I'd want nothing more._

But he knows how difficult she might be this time around considering how she's been denied two times now, even when things got really close. It wasn't easy for either of them. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small pocket watch. Something Selina stole but Bruce kept it when he caught her one day before she left. He closes his hand and holds it tightly. _I can't lose you again._


	12. Chapter Twelve

It's 8:34pm in Gotham, and Barbara is lying in her bed, thinking about how much fun she had as Batgirl. She hasn't had time to play hero lately because of school, and she's been itching for another go. She gets a message from Dick that he's outside. Barbara looks out her window in her room and Dick holds up a bag. Barbara pulls up the window and motions to him to toss it up to her. She opens it up and her costume is inside, and she closes the window to change. When she finishes, she jumps out the window and lands safely using her cape. "Glad you could make it." Dick exclaims.

"I couldn't say no to this!" Barbara answers back excitedly.

She gets on the motorcycle with Dick as they ride around Gotham and stop at an alley to park it and continue on the rooftops. They turn on detective mode and search around for anything out of the ordinary.

After a couple blocks away from the start point, they spot some criminal activity, but something else catches their attention. Some civilians running away. Around Two-Face's area with some goons walking in with some guns, and a slightly bigger one leading the way. "I see something over here." Dick tells Barbara.

Barbara turns around and she follows behind him as they jump along rooftops to get closer, staying out of sight. "Those are Penguin's guys." Barbara whispers to Dick, conflicted.

The man, Perry, leading the way for the other Penguin members stops at a considerable distance as a Two-Face thug, Whitley, shouts back at the other gang. "What the hell are you doing here?! This ain't yer turf!"

"Two-Face is dead. The boss said so!" Perry strikes back.

Dick and Barbara look at each other in disbelief. "No way he's dead!" Whitley shouts.

The other Two-Face thugs look at each other as they wonder where Harvey's been lately, but they want to keep up the act. Fight for his turf. "I ain't seeing no body!" One of the other Two-Face thugs call them out.

"Some'a Penguin's men checked the GCPD Morgue. His body's there."

"How the hell did they get into the GCPD?!" Barbara whispers to Dick.

The Two-Face thugs ask the same thing. "We paid them off." Perry responds. The Penguin thugs behind Perry look at each other shocked, too, but they go with it. "Now if you don't mind-" Perry starts to walk forwards, but Whitley shoots at his feet. A warning shot. "One step closer and I'll blow yer brains out!"

Dick and Barbara get ready to pounce into action, and Perry shouts back. "Do it! I double dare ya! I _triple_ dog dare ya!"

Whitley smiles with anticipation as he holds his gun out and fires at Perry's head. Everyone expects him to fall down and die, but he stands his ground. His head reforms itself and uses the clay to fill in the holes left by the bullets. The bullets travel through his body and Perry holds them in his hand, showing them off. "Lookin' for these?"

Dick and Barbara are speechless. Whitley says the thing on everyone's mind. "What the hell was that?!"

Perry flicks one of the bullets away and responds back. "Little something Penguin finds _useful._ Now,"

Perry grabs his machine gun and holds it with one hand as he points it at Whitley, getting ready to fire. "What the hell did you do to Two-Face!? We had a deal!" Whitley shouts angrily.

"You take the Two-Face goons, I'll take Penguin's." Dick commands Barbara.

Barbara gets in position and Dick gets ready to pounce before someone dies. "It wasn't us!" Perry clarifies. "It was _Batman_!"

This catches Barbara and Dick off-guard. Afraid. In this moment of mystery and fear, Perry gets a shot off at Whitley. The heroic duo looks at each other in shock as someone dies right in front of them, knowing they could've prevented it. They take a second to collect their thoughts and they nod back in unison as they agree to get ready to attack. Perry points at one of the other Two-Face thugs and shouts back at them, "Any _objections?_!"

Then the duo leaps into action as Barbara knocks down one of Two-Face thugs before they get shot as Dick pounces onto Perry, going right through him, coming out the other end covered in clay. "What the hell is this stuff? Clay?"

Perry points the machine gun at Dick but he gets out of the way, quickly knocking out the other Penguin thugs around him, trying not to get shot by their guns. Barbara takes down the goons on the other side and meets back up with Dick, who is struggling to fight the clay-clad thug. He swings a hit and the clay surface is hardened and his arm gets stuck as Clayface turns one of his hands into a mace, swinging back at Nightwing and then knocks him away. Barbara tries to kick him but her foot goes through him, and she's knocked away too.

They stand back up in battle poses, determined not to give up, but they don't know where to start. "How do we fight clay?" Barbara questions.

"Beats me, but at least we can have some fun." Dick retorts, igniting the electricity from his Escrima sticks.

They go back into action as chaos ensues, but the Escrima sticks are proving useful. The electricity seems to be harming him; however, Clayface has messed them up already. Dick tosses one of his sticks to Barbara, saying they work. It's starting to slow him down. Though Barbara isn't as trained with the sticks as Dick is. Clayface can tell he's getting weaker and slower with the electricity, so he pushes the duo apart from him, dispersing clay towards them, immobilizing them as he rolls away in a big brown ball, taking the clay residue left behind with him to cover his tracks. When he gets far away enough from them, he shifts back to a random citizen, walking back to Penguin's base.

Dick and Barbara get out of the goop and don't see any sign of Clayface. They take a moment to catch their breath and Dick calls the GCPD to pick up some goons at their location, and that one of them is dead. The heroic duo looks at each other as Barbara tells Dick, "This isn't good."

Both hunched over with their hands on their stomachs, clasping some injuries. "My dad's gonna kill me." Barbara says worried.

"I think we've got something bigger than that." Dick answers back, worried, too. And it's tall and clad in black...


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Barbara rides with Dick back to the Batcave to have a chat with Batman. Neither Dick nor Babs say anything during the ride, obviously still conflicted by the recent reveal.

Once they arrive at their destination, they find Batman suiting up. But they notice something different. Blades at the side of his gloves. He motions his hands and the blades lock in place. He clenches his fists tightly, ready to go fight crime. He relaxes his fists and turns around as he sees Dick and Barbara, not happy to see him. "Bruce, we need to talk." Dick starts off.

"It can wait." Bruce answers back.

"Is it true you killed Two-Face?" Dick strikes back,

This gets his attention. Bruce stops in his tracks and his eyes widen. "How did you-"

"Barbara and I were out earlier and we spotted some Penguin guys moving in on Two-Face's turf. One of Oz's men spilled the beans."

"And there was this weird goo-like creature and it was crazy." Barbara says,still weirded out.

Batman pauses, and then he starts to walk off, but he stops himself. Feeling this deserve an answer. That they deserve something. "Those _men_ ," He begins, slowly. " _How_ did they _know?"_

Dick looks at him and asks. "So it _is_ true?"

"When did this happen?" Barbara questions too.

Batman turns around to face them and answers, "Days ago."

"And was Harvey the only one?" Barbara inquires.

Batman pauses for a second, trying to figure out what to say, but they both take it as a no. "Oh my God." Barbara whispers.

Dick walks up to him and interrogates. "What the hell happened?"

"The criminals were getting smarter. Coordinated. They were doing a number of things at once." Batman replies stoically still.

Dick looks down at the floor in disappointment. Moments later he looks back up at Batman and asks. "Does _help_ mean _nothing_ to you?"

Dick keeps his cool, but obviously peeved. "We're here for a reason, Bruce! You brought us in to _help_ you. If not me, then Barbara!"

Dick then loses it for a moment and he shouts at him. "That's why I _left!"_

Batman looks distressed. "I did everything you asked and I didn't complain." Dick adds, calming down. "But somewhere along the line you stopped caring. You lost yourself in this life, and I couldn't get through to you. So one day I stopped trying." He stops for a second as Barbara walks closer to Batman, asserting. "We fight with you, not for you."

Batman looks at Barbara, asking. "This creature, what was it like?"

"It was like mud. And it could change forms. It was like a shape-shifter. One second it was a Penguin goon; the next, his hands turned into a battle mace made out of this clay." Barbara answers back, shivering. "I never want to see that thing again."

"I'll examine your suits later." Batman assures.

Dick nods back, hiding him still being disappointed at Bruce. "Dick," Batman starts, pausing to build up the courage to say it. "I'm sorry."

Dick nods back, shocked. But thankful at least. Still not sure if he fully forgives him. He walks away to take off his costume, and so does Barbara. When they finish, they put their suits on a table next to the Batcomputer and leave for the night. Before they go, Batman asks again, "How did they know Two-Face died?"

Barbara answers back. "They said they bought their way into the GCPD."

He nods back and they leave. He stands there for a moment and his attention is turned to the Batcomputer, showing a breaking news story he was afraid would come to light, but he knew would break.

" _BREAKING: Released footage of Batman murdering Two-Face and Firefly."_


	14. Chapter Fourteen

" _BREAKING: Released footage of Batman murdering Two-Face and Firefly."_

The headline for the morning news report leaves everyone in panic. Wanting more and many more wanting to push it away. People conflicted about their stances on the Batman, while some are still standing by their decisions. The news has been the main topic for hours, and a conversation point involves the GCPD.

"The Gotham CCTV footage was held back because of the capacity of such a reveal," A reporter starts off. Bruce is at Wayne Enterprises, watching the news. Rattled but keeps his composure.

"I'm not liking where this is going." A woman walks up to Bruce, nervous.

"Me neither." Bruce answers back, crossing his arms.

The woman, Grace, adds, frazzled. "He's gonna make everything worse."

Bruce looks at her, confused. But secretly he knows what she means. "What'd you mean?"

Grace cups her coffee a little tighter, answering back, "Bunch of psychos ran rampant in the streets. Batman stepped in and stopped them. Now they're only going to fight back even harder."

She drinks some of her coffee and Bruce asks. "What if some of them will be afraid?"

"I don't believe it." She answers back. Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"They've been scared before." Bruce replies.

Grace looks at the CCTV footage replay of Two-Face's neck being snapped, and she informs, worried. "People only fear what they don't understand." She looks back at Bruce. "And they're learning."

Bruce feels worried. He knows she's right, but he doesn't want to admit it. He rubs his eyes and turns the channel. Another news report. He changes it again. Same thing. He puts the remote back on the table and says he has to go get some air.

He stands outside, contemplating about what this could entail. His mind goes to Lucius. How he didn't know. He then decides to pay him a visit and Lucius is waiting in Bruce's Office. "Lucius.." Bruce starts.

Lucius raises his hand and he stops him. He stands there for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I didn't sign up for this, Mister Wayne."

Bruce feels a weight fall on his shoulders. He hands him a paper. Lucius's signature is on it. "This is my resignation." His voice is weak.

Bruce looks at the paper, distraught. "I-"

Lucius puts a hand on Bruce's shoulder as he looks at him in the eye, answering. "I'm sorry, Bruce."

And with that, he walks away, and out of Wayne Enterprises. Bruce still looks at the paper, speechless. He puts it on his desk and leans over his desk, miffed. He stands there for a while as he thinks about where everything went wrong. It spins around in his head repeatedly. _Lucius. I'm sorry._

An employee comes by and asks. "Is this a bad time?"

Bruce turns around and looks at him, answering. His voice cracks. "What is it?"

"A meeting." He answers back. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah," Bruce assures. "I'll be on my way soon."

The employee takes him at his word and Bruce follows him shortly after he that day, Bruce is at the Manor, seeing Alfred up again. "Alfred." He shouts, still a little broken up about earlier.

"Master Bruce." Alfred answers back and notices Bruce looking glum. A trait learned from years of knowing him. "You look troubled."

Bruce answers back. "Lucius quit Wayne Enterprises today."

" _Oh."_ Alfred sighs. "Why?"

Bruce doesn't want to say it but Alfred connects the dots, but he doesn't say anything either. "The day's still young." Bruce tells Alfred. "And there's still work to be done." Still carrying the weight from earlier.

That night, the riots started. Some criminals have stayed inside, while some have run rampant in the streets. Some civilians even joining them. All culminating into a cycle of madness.

Batman, Batgirl, and Nightwing are in action, trying to curtail the chaos, keeping the damage to a minimal with the citizens. Batgirl and Nightwing are knocking out the bad guys, while Batman is trying to control himself. The Dark Knight then runs into Victor Zsaaz, who has dragged a thug out of his house and is trying to cut him open like a fish.

Batman sneaks up behind him and puts him in a headlock, stepping back into a dark alley. First there are cries of despair, about how desperately he needs the mark, how he needs to kill that man. The next, nothing. Leaving behind a bloodied mess. Alfred is back at the Batcave, watching some monitor screens of Batgirl and Nightwing through the lenses in the masks, but Batman's been cut off the whole time. He managed to stray away from the two when they were supposed to be keeping a close eye on him. He's disabled his tracker too. Then a dormant tracker is brought back to life. Jason's. Batman looks at his gauntlet, showing a computer screen displaying an aerial view of Gotham's streets. A beacon points to the Funhouse. An abandoned amusement park tent located far away from the public. "Alfred. Jason's tracker is working again." Batman notifies Alfred.

He knows he should keep it private, but it just comes out of him. Ridden with guilt and joy. Everyone shouts back in unison and Batman responds back, "I'll investigate. I need you two to focus on the riots."

Batman calls his Batmobile and speeds as fast as he can, accidentally crushing some unoccupied cars on the way there. _I'm on my way, Jason. Just hang on._ He grips his steering wheel tighter now. He arrives at the Funhouse and runs as fast as he can into the tent.

He finds it's really dark in the tent, so he turns on his night mode, and finds a pile of bodies in the center of the room. Joker goons. With a tiny pyramid of cards on top of them. _HA HA HA HA_ is spray painted on each card. Blood surrounds the pile. He then looks around the room some more, and sees bodies hanging from the ceiling. Cops. Batman feels an adrenaline rush through him. The kind of adrenaline that's rushed through him throughout the night. And now it's amplified. Burning and burning. Anger. He then spots a cop dressed in a trenchcoat that's supposed to mimic Commissioner Gordon.

Batman tells himself to focus on the task at hand, and uses his detective mode to look for Jason. Then all of a sudden, a familiar laugh booms through the intercom. Jason screaming. Harley laughing. Gunfire. All in a agonizing loop. It gets louder. And louder. "Stop!" Jason screams from below. "Stooppp!"

The recording continues and Jason screams for it to stop some more. Batman finds Jason and for a split second, they look at each other. "BATMAN! NO!" Jason shouts before the tent blows up with both of them in it.

Batman wasn't near the blast as much as Jason was. But it was around Jason's proximity. Batman rushes towards Jason to get him free of some of the rubble, only to find him dead and ashen. Bruce holds his broken body, and notices something on his bare back. He turns him over and sees a card. _IF YOU WANT ME, THEN COME FIND ME._ Spray painted in green. He flips the card over and it tells his location. "Alfred, send a GCPD officer to my location. Jason's dead." Batman announces, hurt. But he leaves out where Joker is hiding.

Alfred bypasses the code Batman set up to hide or disable his tracker, knowing he'll be going after the Joker. Afraid of what he might do. He talks over the comms but only to Dick and Barbara. "Joker killed Jason and Batman is on his way to him. I'm sending you his location to track. He'll lose himself and I need you two to stop him."

The two look at each other, heart broken. "We'll get right on it." Dick answers back, trying to stay strong. Barbara stands frozen but comes to when Dick shakes her awake. "C'mon, we gotta go."

"I'm contacting a second team of GCPD officers to take away the Joker." Alfred clarifies before he leaves the duo to their duties.

They get on their motorcycles and speed as fast as they can. Batman speeds his way towards Joker too. Jason's face still fresh in his memory. His body ashen, beaten, and branded. The recording echoing in his mind. When he makes his way to Joker, he discovers something troubling. Something that frightens him more than anything. Joker wearing Jason's suit. The top half of it anyway. "It doesn't make me look fat, does it?" Joker quips. "I mean, if _I_ blew myself up too, the weight would just fall off!"

This sends Batman into a rage as he pounces towards him, at which point Joker reminds him. "Easy on the suit! It was _yours_ , anyways." He smiles as Batman pounds on him. Every hit. Every punishing blow seems to have no effect. The pain is nonexistent to him.

"It's a shame Jason wasn't here himself to finish the job. What a party pooper you are." Joker shouts as Batman wails on him.

The clown continues spouting insults at him, knowing that Batman will finally kill him. After a while, Batman still hasn't killed him. Wanting to make it last. Joker mocks him, making chicken noises, and laughing hysterically afterwards. "Reminds me of _another_ flightless bird, what'd you think?"

The Joker doesn't fight it. He lets Batman pound his face in. Breaking a couple teeth and some of his skull too. Before Batman can hit on him some more, Dick and Barbara come up behind him, trying to pull him away from the Joker. Batman protests, but the two try their hardest to hold him back. They know it won't work, but they keep trying. And the moment Batman breaks free of their hold, the police show up. Batman has the Joker by the jacket, about to throw another punch before some officers shout. "BATMAN! STAND DOWN!"

They point their guns at him in defense. "We'll take care of the Joker!" One officer shouts back.

 _Damn it Alfred._ Batman thinks. It feels like forever before Batman releases the Joker and snaps back into reality. He backs away from the Joker as the cops carry his bloodied body to the car. On the way to the car, Joker shouts at Batman. "Say hi to Robin for me!"

Batman jumps into his Batmobile, not saying a word to anyone, and drives back to the Batcave. Dick and Barbara get word from Alfred over the comms to meet at the Backup Batcave in another part of town to avoid Batman's wrath when he comes home. Alfred gets up from his chair and walks towards a car to drive off to the location.

When Batman arrives at the Main Batcave, he jumps out of the car and takes off his suit, throwing it to the ground. Leaving pieces of a dark shell behind him. He goes to a part of the cave where he can stop and think. Somewhere quiet. He kneels in front of a small body of water. The moonlight coming out from the top of the cave better reveals his reflection in the water. He looks at his reflection as he cups his hands to get some of the water, splashing it over his face. He takes deep breaths and keeps splashing his face with water. He stares at his reflection a little bit more before he says aloud, breathing heavily. "What have I done?"

And all that answers back, is the hiss of a giant bat, lurking in the cave.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Selina stands in her cell, shocked at the news. A TV around the corner is covering the riots, and how it's finally been stopped. Showing more of Batman's brutality. Selina holds the bars of her cell like an anchor; like it'll keep her in touch with a reality quickly changing. A better reality.

No one knows how many people Batman really killed in the riots, and some are afraid to check. Just thankful it's over. _Bruce, what have you become?_

"Step away from the bars, Ms. Kyle." A guard asks.

Selina steps away as girds come in with cuffs to escort her to the cafeteria. The more volatile criminals would be served in their cells. The guards don't say a word. Barely anyone does.

"Can't say we didn't expect this." A guard escorting Selina tells the other guard as they walk past the TV.

"Yeah." The other answers.

The doors to the cafeteria open and criminals are eating at their tables. Guards are at every corner of the room equipped in SWAT gear for the best protection. "Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad ta be in prison." A criminal remarks.

Another one beside him disagrees. "You kiddin'?! We got 'em runnin' scared!"

"Look at those screens." The man points at the TV. "You think he's playin' around this time?"

The other man scoffs. "It's too much fer 'em. We got 'em right where we want 'im!"

"It ain't gonna be dat easy." The man takes a sip of his soup and finishes. "He ain't made it this far on luck."

"If he did, it'll run out soon." The other one strikes back.

Selina listens to the conversation as she sits down and eats her food, unsure what to think. She feels vulnerable, knowing the Big Bad Batman has been "runnin' scared."

The news on the TV cuts to what looks like Batman pounding on the Joker, scaring Selina. "Jesus." One of the criminals from earlier says.

The one beside him sneers. "Always hated that freak."

Selina imagines he's talking about the Joker, and wonders who doesn't hate him at this point. She then hears a faint familiar laugh. Probably watching the news. But there's something about this laugh. A terrible sadism mixed with glee. Shut the hell up, you creep! Selina thinks.

"If the police hadn't shown up, we'd be free of this jackass." A criminal says aloud.

"Least he got Zsaaz." Another one remarks.

"How do you know?!"

"They showed 'im earlier. He ain't here."

Selina looks at her empty tray now, and she catches herself making a Batsymbol with her fork, sliding against the plate. She snaps herself back into reality, then she moves an X in the center of the symbol. I'm supposed to hate you, Bruce.

"I don't know who I want dead more. The Bat, or the Joker." Another criminal murmurs.

The bells rings, and the criminals carry their trays to dispose of the trash, and everyone is then escorted back into their cells. "Hey, remember Firefly?!" Two criminals are walking close together, and the other answers back. "Man, ain't nobody care about that freak."

"Apparently Penguin did."

Selina re-enters her cell and realizes she should've stayed gone. But she came here for a reason. "Ya hear about those Two-Face guys switching to Penguin?"

A criminal nearby is having a conversation with a man in a cell beside him, but Selina can't hear them as one near her cel tries shouting obscenities at her. "Hey Catwoman! Ever had a night with a man before?"

He chuckles and Selina barks back. "Get the hell away from me."

"Aw cmon, I don't bite!"

"But I do." Selina snarls back.

She then tries to tune him out, thinking how she's supposed to get out of here. Joker's laugh reverberates against the walls once more and Selina groans in disgust. With each laugh, he gets louder and louder. "He's like one floor underneath us!" A man complains.

"I'm gonna wring his neck and wipe that smile off that face." Another one yells.

Hours later, a guard comes by Selina's cell, and unlocks it. "Get up. Your bail's been paid."

Selina doesn't question it, and she gets up, sighing with relief. Away from these freaks. She walks with the guard, wondering who had enough money to pay the bail price. And as she walks outside, she sees Bruce Wayne. The guard unlocks Selina's cuffs, and walks back into the prison. "What the hell are you doing!?" Selina sneers at Bruce, flabbergasted.

"Paying your bail." Bruce answers.

"Are you insan—"

Before she can finish, Bruce kisses her. She pulls him away and slaps him, but her hand goes right through him. Like clay. "Holy sh—" Selina almost shouts before she's knocked out and carried to a car as Bruce tells Penguin, "You had enough money for the bail. We're on our way back."

He then puts the pedal to the metal, and heads back to Penguin's base.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Perry has Selina in the back of the car, knocked out, hands tied, and a cloth over her head on the way to the hideout. When he arrives, he calls some of Penguin's men to open the shutter to the base. Everyone gathers around but Bane continues hitting a punching bag, ignoring the commotion. Perry gets out of the car and drags Selina out, taking the cloth off her head. Oswald chuckles and puffs some smoke in her face.

Selina starts to come to, disgusted. "Ugh, what the-"

Oswald then fastens the rings on his hand and punches her across the jaw, interrupting her. She winces in pain a little, looking back up at Penguin. "If you were taller, I think you'd hit harder."

Penguin turns to Bane and shouts: "Oi!"

Bane turns to face him as Penguin demands. "Do me a favor, will ya?"

Bane walks over to Selina, and she looks up at him. A brute that could give Batman a run for his money. She also notices empty tubes around the top of the opening of his jacket. Implanting into his skin.

Bane cracks his knuckles, clenches his fists with an iron grip, and hits her across the face. She hits the ground with a loud thud, bones cracking, and she spits out blood. She winces in more pain now. Breathing heavily. Bane takes a few steps back, smirking a little under his mask. "Well, well, well, you asked fer it, didn't ya?" Penguin snickers.

Selina stays there on the ground a little bit longer, almost lifeless. Bane held back a little, but wanted to make an example out of her. "And _that's_ for _bailin'_ on us."

Selina looks up at Penguin, glaring at him angrily. "Wouldn't have gotten...in there...anyway." Selina mumbles, still not over Bane's punch. "What do you want, Oz?"

"The Batman." Penguin replies, puffing more smoke into the air. "He won't pass up the chance to prance around in a fancy suit. And he sure as bloody hell won't miss the chance to be with his favorite cat, now will he?"

He snickers. "Since when did you learn to strategize?"

Penguin snickers as Bane looks down at Selina in a deadlier death stare. Selina looks at Bane, almost feeling the anger piercing into her soul. "Ohh, you're scared now, aren't ya?" Penguin smirks, feeling cocky.

Selina looks at Penguin and answers back; sternly, albeit weakly. "I don't want anything to do with Batman."

Penguin's face flushes with shock. "And why the hell not?" He questions.

"I don't have to say a damn word." Selina sneers back.

"Oh, but we got plenty of time." Penguin puffs more smoke in her face, mocking her. "Tell me, what's up? A hero ain't got nothing for a burglar?"

"Get the hell away from me." Selina barks back.

"Black cats are bad luck, after all. So I guess you can only blame yerself."

Selina feels furious that he's still going on, and she can't lunge at him because Bane is watching. "I was thinkin' we'd keep you alive, but we might jus' kill ya. See the look on his face!"

"Keep talking, and I'll...rip out that glass eye of yours..and shove it up your ass!"

Penguin pretends to be scared, smirking. "Aren't you scary?" He starts to laugh He then walks away and throws the cigar over to Selina as Oswald shouts as he leaves, feeling even more cocky. "Now piss off!"

A smile creeps up on Oswald's face. The smoke from the remnant of the cigar rises from the tip, and finding itself in her nostrils. Disgusted. Perry picks up Selina and shouts to Penguin, "What'd we do with her?"

"Lock her up in the vault! I hear she loves those!"

Perry starts to drag her still almost lifeless body to the back where Penguin operates in the control room, but Selina has been cutting the rope restraints with a hairpin. She knows it's a lose-lose situation, but when she cuts the ropes, she lashes out at Perry first, not going down without a fight. But her hand gets stuck in the clay, and she tries to pull it out. "Son of a-"

She gets knocked out again and dragged to the vault, thrown inside. Not bothering with restraints. When Selina comes to not long after, she starts thinking about how she will be able to get out without her gear. She was able to retrieve it from the prison when she was leaving, but now it's in the car still. _Well this isn't good._ She doesn't even know if there _is_ a way out. And she'll have to wait for Batman. She rolls her eyes at the thought. But it seems like her only option. _You better buy me an island for this._ She thinks to herself as she lies on her back, still recovering from the wounds. _And Oswald, when I'm out, I'm coming for you first._


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Dick, Barbara, and Alfred are at a Backup Batcave in Chinatown, fairly smaller than the main one. They're mourning Jason's death, and thinking about what would've happened if the cops hadn't shown up to stop Batman. "Jason wasn't the easiest to get along with, but…" Dick starts, upset. He pauses, trying to come up with something to say.

"I hated that guy, but this is awful." Barbara retorts. Barbara fights back the tears. "I hate the Joker even more." She murmurs back.

"The only thing we can do is stop it from happening to anyone else." Alfred carefully implies, knowing what it entails and how much of it will actually work.

They all sit in silence, contemplating their next move. Barbara looks disgusted at the thought running through her mind. Dick goes to comfort her and she still fights back the tears. She holds him, but almost cautiously. She should feel safe in this moment. Something is holding her back. Dick notices how tense her body is, and assumes it's Jason's death that has her frazzled, so he doesn't let go. "It's okay to cry." Dick whispers to Barbara, caressing her hair.

Barbara decides to let some of it out, but keeps something else inside. She squeezes him a little tighter as Dick again whispers. "We'll find a way, Barb. Keep him away from as many people as we can."

Barbara looks up at Dick, asking. "How?" Droplets of tears falling down.

"There's always another choice." He answers back. Hinting at a mentor. "I don't know how, but we will." He tries to keep his cool, but he's worried, too. He wants to protect her.

"And if we can't?" Barbara adds.

"Then," Dick pauses to collect his thoughts. "we can say we did our best."

They hold each other for a little longer and then Barbara asks. "I wonder how Batman's doing."

"Probably wrecked the Batcave by now." Dick answers back.

"You might want to look at this." Alfred implies.

Dick and Barbara look at the Batcomputer, and everything's perfectly fine. Except Bruce is mourning. Sitting at the Batcomputer. Looking at his cowl. They look at it for a little bit and Dick turns the screen off. Upset. He steps away from the computer and says before he heads out, "It's been a long night. I'm turning in."

He delivers in a strong manner, but he's beaten on the inside. When he leaves, Alfred tells Barbara that he should be heading home too. "Wait," Barbara stutters.

"What is it, Ms. Gordon?" Alfred politely asks.

"I…" She starts, but stops herself. She then decides to take another approach. "..never mind. I just wanna go home."

Alfred goes with her decision and responds, "Very well. Have a good evening, Ms. Gordon."

Barbara stands there by herself, afraid. Moments later she finally musters up the strength to get out of the cave and drives to the Batcave to drop off her motorcycle and change into her normal clothes. When she gets home, sees her dad isn't home.

She breathes a sigh of relief, and goes up to her room for the night. It isn't exactly an easy night for sleeping as her mind swirls around in a hundred different directions. The thing that bothers her the most is the secret she's decided to keep from Dick and Alfred, and is unsure whether is for the better, or for the worst. Possibly compromise her relationship with Dick. Too much for a youthful mind to wrestle with on her own. She clutches her pillow close to her as she starts to fear what's ahead, hoping to close her eyes and everything sorts itself out.

 _You're so weak,_ Barbara thinks to herself. Letting this get a hold on her. But is tonight has shown her one thing, it's that this will only get worse before it gets better. And it's going to be a long struggle.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Gordon is in his office, having very distressing calls about the aftermath of the riots. How he needs to get things under control. How the city needs a better commissioner, and so on. It's been going on all day, and Gordon's gone through more cigarettes in one day than he does in five days. Then there's a knock on the door and Gordon shouts that it's open, and the mayor, Quincy Sharp, walks in. "Mr. Sharp!" Gordon stands up and shakes his hand, and Quincy nonchalantly returns the favor. He looks displeased.

"We need to talk."

They sit back down and Gordon questions, "Lemme guess. Batman?" Gordon lights up another cigar and Quincy acknowledges. "Yes."

Gordon holds the cigar in his hand and mutters back, tired of the bullshit of the day. "Look, I've already heard it all today. I-"

"I'm relieving you of duty." Quincy butts in, regretful.

Gordon stops and looks at Quincy for a moment in shock. "What?"

"I've already spoken to someone else for the job." He informs. "I've appreciated your hard work and effort to keep this city safe for a long time, but it's within the public's interest that I do something about this predicament."

Gordon is devastated. "You did this behind my _back?_ "

"I didn't want to. Really, I didn't. But I had to." Quincy's words are honest, but still strike like a knife. "I've gotten a multitude of calls, as have you I assume. I had to act."

Gordon takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes, breathing heavily. He looks at Quincy angrily and strikes back. "Was this for saving face, or did you really want to do this?"

"I realize it's a difficult time for you, but-"

"No, you don't understand."

"I do understand."

"You don't have a daughter. This is how I keep her safe. How I keep the lights on!" Gordon rubs his face angrily. Getting more worked up. "We can find you another job."

Gordon scoffs and Quincy then addresses the next issue. "And we're dismantling the Batsignal."

Gordon freezes. He freezes for a while and then he finally looks at Quincy and retorts. "Like hell you are."

"It's a necessary action for the future of the GCPD. We cannot be associated with the Batman."

Quincy rubs his eyes, thinking about the decisions he's making. He then looks to face a disgruntled ex-Commissioner, and adds. "I'm sorry, Gordon. But I couldn't let this go on and have it blow up in our faces. The people would revolt. Not for the Batman, but for the GCPD to act. They'd want the GCPD dealt with before it's too late, and we'd be forced to take drastic measures. I'm simply acting before things get out of hand."

Quincy shakes his head in disapproval of the situation, but he knows there's no other way. "You were the best we could ask for, but now, we need someone else." Quincy tries to put a positive spin on things. "But at least, now, you can retire. Take a load off."

Gordon puffs some smoke and stands up as he reaches in his pocket to take out his badge, tosses it on the table and angrily mutters back. "I don't need to be here anymore."

He takes his jacket and hat, and walks out of the room. Everyone looks at Gordon as he walks out. Upset. No one says a word. Some women sobbing and some men looking on in disbelief. They watch, as the commissioner walks right out of the GCPD.

A storm is starting to brew outside, and Gordon puts the cigar back into his mouth and heads to his car. Before he puts the keys in the car to start it up, he stops himself. He takes off his glasses again, almost on the verge of tears. _Damn it all._ He rests his head on the wheel, thinking again. _Batman. Sharp._ He leans back in his seat, wincing in distress. _I'm sorry, Barbara._ Gordon then has an epiphany. He looks at his walkie-talkie and holds it tight in his hand. _I'm not done yet, Sharp._


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Evan and Harry are still on duty out in the field, sitting in a police car drinking some coffee. Pulling a late-night shift, as are multiple other officers, especially after the riots. They're policing the aftermath of the event. "So, you're the commissioner now?" Harry asks Evan.

"Looks that way." He answers bluntly as he drinks more of his coffee.

"Doesn't it feel wrong? Taking the role from Gordon?" Harry asks, concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah, it does." Evan replies, guilty. "I don't deserve this badge. But I didn't get this far by questioning authority."

A speed checker is installed on the dashboard of the car, checking vehicles to see if they're going above the limit. "Do you think Gordon knows you're the new commish?" Harry questions.

"I don't know. I don't want to think about it." Evan responds, but then he adds. "Sharp said we were going to dismantle the Batsymbol sometime soon if Gordon doesn't." He takes a deep breath before he mutters those words, and it doesn't feel any better saying it aloud.

He takes a bigger sip of his coffee and he shakes his head. "It's all a damn mistake. I can't dismantle the Batsymbol." Harry rubs his face and sighs heavily. He then looks back down at the floor and complains. "There has to be another way."

Evan looks out the window, drinking some of his coffee, and counters Harry's argument. "There isn't another way." Evan looks up at the sky where the Batsymbol would shine, and then mutters aloud. "This was supposed to make things easier."

More cars pass by and they go by the speed limit. Evan watches as they go by, and he comments on a past event. "Remember when I was in a drunk car accident?" Evan looks at Harry and continues. "How the doctors said I was seriously wounded?"

"Yeah." Harry answers back.

Evan scratches the coffee cup with his finger and expands before taking a deep breath. "I remember being scared shitless. I thought my life was over. But it could've been much worse if Batman hadn't shown up to take me to the Hospital as fast as he could."

Evan loosens his grip on the cup as he thinks back to the time he got to see the light of day again. "The doctor said they did everything they could, and that I was brought in fast enough to be saved. Not a day goes by I don't think about that moment."

Evan smiles a little and then it turn back to a frown as he comments. "Now, look where we are."

A car speeds by above the speed limit, and rapidly increasing. "Bogey!" Harry shouts.

They put their cups in the cup holder and Evan speeds up to catch up with the lawbreaker. Harry checks the speed meter and exclaims. "He's going 90mph!"

Evan smiles a little as he shouts back. "Finally, some action!"

Harry watches the car in pursuit, and it's rapidly accelerating. "What the hell is this guy doing?!"

The car starts to swerve out of control, ramming into other cars and sidewalk lights. Evan feels the adrenaline as he goes at such a high speed, and Harry is enjoying it too. He knows he shouldn't, but he can't help it. "I've never had so much fun!" Harry exclaims.

The car is only going in a straight line, but then it haphazardly turns the corner, ramming through a brick wall, slowing it down as debris falls on top of the hood. It starts to pick back up speed now as Evan stays on its tail, knowing he can just ram it and finish it. But he wants some action. And the consequences of the action would not be to his liking. Of course, damage is being dealt to public property and other cars, so Evan shouts back to Harry. "Shoot the wheels!"

As the car starts to speed back up again, Harry takes out his gun and rolls down the window, leaning his head out and trying to get a good shot. He tries and tries and still can't get a good shot off. "I'm wasting bullets!" Harry shouts.

The car starts to slow down now, and so does Evan. Harry manages to get some shots off on one of the wheels, and they pull up next to the car for an arrest. "When can we do that again?!" Harry shouts as he gets out of the car.

"Hopefully soon." Evan chuckles.

They walk up next to the car and see a body passed out at the wheel. Probably dead. Fumes engulfing the inside of the car. Evan motions to Harry. "Stop!"

Evan looks closer and sees a bag in the back seat. Scarecrow's. "This is Scarecrow's fear toxin."

Harry backs away from the car and Evan is about to call it in, but then he's shot by a bullet from behind. "Evan!" Harry shouts in horror.

Following that, he too, falls with a thud against the concrete. From above, far away, Deadshot contacts Bane and confirms. "The bait worked. Officers down."

"My men will come pick them up."

"Roger." Deadshot answers back.

He stands back up and wraps a rope around a vent on the roof of the building, and slides back down to the ground, driving back to the primary HQ.


	20. Chapter Twenty

In the morning, Perry wakes up early, longing to return to an old place in memory he's long neglected. He wants to avoid any questions from anyone, and go his own way. He goes to the car and disguises himself as a normal civilian, heading to an abandoned amphitheater in a worn down part of town. He then switches back to Basil Karlo. He parks his car on the curb and walks over to the stage. He remembers exactly where he stood all those years ago during a school play. Where he got his start.

He reenacts a scene where he was delivering a speech, though forgetting a lot of the words. He then stands there on the stage, trying to remember the words. Though he forgets, he still remembers the great memories he made here. The friends he made.

He closes his eyes and concentrates. Trying to recall the speech. Or in the very least, a moment associated with it. He manages to remember it and starts reciting it aloud, pretending he's in front of a crowd. When he's done, people have gathered in front of the theater, clapping. Basil smiles back and one dude asks him, "Hey, aren't you that criminal, Basil Karlo?"

Basil answers back, upset. "Yes. I'm afraid I am."

"No worries here man." The man replies back. "I'm not calling the cops."

Basil smiles back a little. "Thanks."

The people start to disperse now and the man who first spoke to Basil, whose name is Eric, walks up to the performer and asks him, quietly. "So, it's really true, isn't it? You killing somebody?" He asks cautiously, though brave enough to come forth.

"Yes." Basil replies, worried. "I'm not proud of it. It follows me everywhere." He puts his hands in his pockets to hide his shaking. "I got nowhere to go."

Eric shakes his head, concerned. "I'm sorry man."

"I'm the one that did it." Basil retorts.

Eric drinks from the bottle in his hand, and take a big gulp. "What did it feel like? Killing someone?" He asks, more concerned now. Cautious.

Basil takes a deep breath and delivers the chilling response. "Let's just say, you never know how much life means to you…" He takes a pause to gather his thoughts. "Until you take one away."

Basil looks Eric in the eyes, straight on as he speaks. A look of guilt. And longing. As if one wouldn't be enough. "Then, you go through life knowing no one'll trust you again. All that fame. Respect." Basil looks away at something along the street. Watching a piece of paper sweep away in the wind. People living in huts. "Gone." Basil finishes.

Basil turns to face the amphitheater, showing signs of wear of tear from time. "I could've had it all."

"Damn." Eric comments.

Basil picks up a dying flower from its roots, sliding his thumb over the dark pink petals. "Yeah." Basil adds.

He then smothers the flower in his fist, and then watches it fall from his hand. "What started this?" Eric questions. "Why'd you kill somebody?"

Basil turns to face him. "It was more than just one person." Basil starts to explain. "I was always the good guy in these things."

Basil points to the general area of the theater, and pauses before he continues. "Sometimes I'd play the villain. But then,"

He stands stock still. His hands stop shaking. "I picked the wrong one. I went too far into that character."

Basil takes another pause as she looks down at the ground, then looks back at Eric as he continues. "Went to a place I didn't know how to get out of. And along the way, I killed somebody. Then my co-star on Opening Day."

Eric nods his head in shock, drinking more of his beer. "The news broke, and everyone hated me. Wanted me dead. But even after all this time,"

Basil closes his eyes in regret as he finishes. "I still think I'm stuck in that role."

Basil opens his eyes to look back at Eric now, who is just as shocked as he'd expect. "And that I wanted more."

Basil cracks a little smirk, adding. "Method acting at its finest. And its worst."

Eric walks up to Basil and apologizes again. "I didn't mean to-"

"That's how it is." The actor tries to better the situation, but he fails.

Eric holds up his drink and asks. "You need a drink?"

The actor denies it. "No, trust me."

Eric continues to drink and Basil tells the man that he should get going. He heads back to his car as he watches Eric walk back to his hut. When Basil gets into the car, he transform back into a regular citizen, and stops to think for a bit about where he could've been had he not gone off the deep end. Broadway. Fame. Everywhere. He then grips his steering wheel tighter and drives back to HQ, off to continue his life of crime.


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

Bruce wakes up in his bed, still distraught over yesterday. He reaches for a whiskey, but it's already used up. He rubs his eyes as he tries to wake up, and stands up to turn the lights on. Nothing. He tries again. No light. Only light is through the windows. Bruce stares at the switch in disbelief. He believes his power would have been shut off, but why is the question he seeks to answer. He tries the hallway lights. Nothing. "I'm terribly sorry, sir." Alfred shouts back across the hallway. "But it seems you forgot to pay the electric bill!"

Bruce cracks a smirk as Alfred looks as stoic as ever. "Or it's a matter of a mistaken identity." Alfred hands Bruce a newspaper. A photo taken by Arkham Asylum security footage is in the center of the paper. Bruce Wayne breaking out Selina Kyle from prison, and supposedly kidnapping her, according to the story. "What is this?!" Bruce demands an answer.

"I have no idea, sir. But surely you're not desperate enough to break out a cat lady and kidnap her."

Bruce looks at the paper in bewilderment as Alfred continues. "And I suppose this was a call for your power to be cut."

Bruce turns the paper and sees his stock dropping like crazy. Bruce tosses the paper to the side as he runs his fingers through his hair, messing it up. Obviously unbothered by the mess. "I have to go to the Batcomputer to examine the security feed." Bruce tells Alfred as he heads down into the depths of the Manor, with his butler following. Fortunately the power supply between the Manor and the Batcave is separate.

Once there, Bruce opens the security feed and sees his "double" going inside to pay the bail. Selina comes out. And a kiss. Then getting knocked out and thrown into a car, driving away. "I'm sure there will have to be plenty of press meetings trying to pin this on you." Alfred warns.

"I know." Bruce answers back, examining the footage.

He zooms in closer into the double. A 100% replication. He sees after the kiss, Selina slaps the double, and the face gets distorted. Mud is knocked off of the face. But it's a miniscule detail that a lot of people would've missed, had it not been for a clearer image and a better zoom. "Wait a minute." Bruce responds as he sees the mud.

He thinks back to the other day when Dick and Barbara said they were fighting a clay-like thing. "Shapeshifter."

"Pardon?" Alfred questions, caught off guard.

"This creature Barbara and Dick fought. They said it was a shapeshifter. This is it."

"May I remind you that you will not be able to easily sway everyone. Photo editing could be another problem entirely."

Bruce rubs his eyes as he thinks of a solution. A notification pops up on the screen. There's someone at the front door of the Manor. Vicki Vale. "Looks like you have a date." Alfred remarks.

They walk over to the elevator that gets them up to ground level the fastest, and on the way up, Bruce tries to fix his hair. When they get to the door, Alfred opens it as Bruce stands behind him. "Your doorbell isn't working."

"Our power was cut." Bruce clarifies.

"I can assume why." Vicki retorts. "Can I ask you about the incident at Arkham Asylum where you broke a prisoner out of prison and kidnapped them?"

She points the recorder at Bruce and he scoffs as he tells her to come in. When they get inside, Bruce escorts Vicki to the living area as Alfred goes to make some tea. "I appreciate your hospitality, but the people need to know."

Even for it being more than a few hours old, being Bruce Wayne makes for a swift coverage. Bound to blow up in a hurry.

Vicki is immediately taken aback when she enters the Manor. The lights are off. "Power's been cut." Bruce announces as Alfred rolls up the blinds to the living room to let the light in.

Bruce takes a deep breath and looks at Vicki, obviously nervous. Worried she'll be kidnapped too. "All I can say is, it's not me."

"Of course you'd say that." Vicki strikes back. "How about something more original?"

For someone worried about being kidnapped, you're obviously testy. Bruce thinks. "This is going to sound strange," Bruce starts, slowly.

"This oughta be good."

Bruce runs the scenario through his head, knowing the outcome would be disbelief. He says that it was a shapeshifter, and Bruce was right about the reaction. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Alfred comes by with the tea, and Vicki looks at the cups on the tray, asking nervously. "They're not spiked, are they?"

Alfred answers back kindly. "No, ma'am, they're not."

"If they are, I'm suing you." Vicki barks back.

Alfred smiles back, putting the tray on the table and whispering to himself. "Good luck with that."

Vicki holds the cup in her hand, looks at it, and sets it down on a nearby table. Bruce takes a sip of the tea and starts. "A shapeshifter is someone that can mimic other people's forms."

Vicki retorts. "I know what a shapeshifter is. I don't believe it. Unless I see concrete evidence, you're a guilty man, Bruce."

"Give it some time." Bruce politely answers back, trying to remain calm in this situation.

Vicki tilts her head mockingly. "I'll give you that at least, but it better be fast. And no, money isn't going to help me forget."

Bruce leans forward and holds the cup, looking at Vicki. "How thorough were you with examining the feed?" Bruce asks.

"Thorough?" Vicki responds, half-heartedly.

"If you look closely, you'd see that there's something out of the ordinary." Bruce puts the cup on the table and takes out his phone, but Vicki jumps to conclusions. "Wait, what are you doing?!"

"Getting my phone out." Bruce answers.

When he does, there's another knock at the door. "I'll get it." Alfred announces.

Bruce goes to open a website Vicki runs for Gotham news, and as he pulls it up, a voice can be heard in the next room. "Hi, I'm looking for Bruce Wayne?"

Jack Ryder. Bruce thinks. Vicki hears him too and scoffs. She goes and stands at the entrance of the living area, and Jack and her lock eyes. "Vicki!?" Jack shouts.

"You're late, Ryder." Vicki strikes back. "I already got the story I need."

Bruce scoffs to himself and stands to his feet as he's about to say something, but Vicki turns around, almost expecting a comeback. "Where's Selina hiding? In a red room?" Vicki shouts.

"You got this all wrong." Bruce butts in.

Jack is really shocked at this news. "So it's true?!" Jack blurts.

"No, it's not!" Bruce spouts back. "I don't even have a red room!"

"Typical." Vicki barks back. "I'm getting out of here before you get any ideas." She adds with not as much panic in her as before, and then she leaves with a final statement. "I thought you were a good man, Bruce."

Then she leaves, and as she exits the Manor, Jack goes out with her, probably bickering. Alfred locks the door behind them both. Bruce assures, trying to make the situation better. "Maybe she left because Jack came in. Because of competition."

"This is troubling news, Master Bruce." Alfred informs. "What are we going to do?"

Bruce crosses his arms and starts thinking, "I don't know, but we will find a way sooner or later."

"In the meantime, sir, I'd advise you to not go to work this morning."

Bruce agrees, and they go off back to the Batcave, as a small bat lingers behind in the living area. With eyes of anger.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Bruce is examining the feed from Nightwing and Batgirl's cowls on the night that they met this Clayface, looking for anything in particular.

Alfred is examining their suits, looking at the clay residue on them still. Bruce sees Two-Face and Penguin goons, and the latter is trying to move in on their turf. GCPD paid off. Two-Face dead. "I can't imagine they'll be happy to answer questions from me." Bruce comments to Alfred.

"Certainly not." Alfred answers back.

"Clayface" gets shot by one of the Two-Face thugs, and shrugs it off like it's nothing. The shooter is killed and Bruce looks at Barbara's and Dick's feed. They were about to strike but stopped in their tracks when Clayface says Batman killed Two-Face. Taken by surprise. But after the shooting, they go into action.

They take some beatings from Clayface before they realize what they had to do. Dick says he doesn't know how to fight this thing, but they can't give up. He comments that maybe it'll get tired. Bruce sees the monster's hands turn into a variety of weapons. Every strike going through him like paper, except for Nightwing's batons, which apparently did something. The monster rolls away and Dick and Barbara head back to the Batcave. Bruce closes the feed and Alfred comments, "Remember when your biggest worry was a giant crocodile?"

"I remember." Bruce retorts back, taking a deep breath. "But enough of an electrical charge and I might be able to stop it."

Alfred starts cleaning off the suits now and remarks, "I'm sure Master Grayson will understand."

Bruce turns his chair around to face Alfred, who is a little groggy. "I said I was distraught when I looked over your feed on the night I discovered you had killed Harvey Dent, but if you could jump around less, that would be good news, too." Alfred shakes his head in disapproval at the two statements he just mentioned, and remarks again. "Precisely why I prefer to stay here all the time."

But then Alfred pauses as he thinks of something dreadful. "But Zsaaz," He looks at Bruce, worried. "He was a different breed of monster."

Alfred struggles to make a complete thought, and Bruce assures, trying to salvage to the situation. "But he wasn't the Joker."

Alfred turns to Bruce, upset. "Are you justifying Zsaaz's murder?"

"Are you?" Bruce asks.

Alfred doesn't answer back, worried. But Bruce knows the response. What he's thinking. "I don't want to discuss this." Alfred finally replies, weak.

He goes to put up the costumes in the display area next to the Batsuit, and Alfred sees a peculiar change. Blades on the gauntlets of the Batsuit. Alfred scoffs as he puts the costumes back in their place, and places his hand on the glass of the Batsuit display case. "I don't want to discuss anything anymore." He comments, feeling lost. Distant.

"Alfred.." Bruce says aloud, trying to talk to him, but he ignores him as Alfred heads back up the Manor through the elevator. Bruce leans back into his chair, now too, feeling distant. Afraid of the path he's taken. But there's no going back now.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Back at the GCPD, in the Communications Department, an officer stops by and asks Henry if he's heard anything from Evan or Harry. "No, not yet." Henry responds.

Officer Riley sighs and he then tells Henry to track their phones, and he tells him where they are. Riley says he's on his way and gets some officers to come with him to investigate. One officer asks if they should wait for Batman, but Riley says they don't know if they're dead or are about to be, and they should act fast.

On the way there, Henry is on the phone with Riley, acting as a GPS, as the other officers make sure their guns are loaded and get ready for whatever comes next. They arrive at an abandoned Stagg Enterprises building, and Riley thanks Henry and hangs up the phone.

The officers get out of the car and head inside the building as one officer remarks, confused. "Odd place to hide a commissioner."

"Sure is." Another officer agrees.

They walk into a rundown greeting area with dying plants, aging architecture, and dust on the screens. "How long do you think this building has been out of business?" Riley asks any one of the officers with him.

An officer looks at a plaque and reads, "Well, it was erected in 1930." An officer answers back.

Another officer looks at the plants, "Who knows, but it sure has been a long time."

They head towards an elevator and stop at the door as Riley says discouragingly, "I don't even think this thing has power."

An officer decides to press the button for the hell of it, and the doors open. "Apparently, someone's been here." An officer comments.

They see six floors to choose from, and Riley asks Henry if he can use the cameras to see which floor the officers are in. "I don't see anything, but I do see some chambers for testing of some sort on floor five. You may want to check that out."

"On our way." Riley answers back.

They go to the fifth floor and turn on the lights as they see broken chairs, straps, windows, medical equipment, and some bodies all over the place. "Jesus, what happened here?" An officer questions.

Riley steps on some green liquid, and he looks at it in disgust. He sees people with sagging skin, though a definitive muscle tone around some of the hanging flesh. "Were they experimenting on people?" Riley asks.

"Looks like it to me." Another officer responds back.

The small room doesn't make for much exploration, so they go back to the elevator to go to the sixth floor. It looks like there's nothing there, but they turn on the lights to make sure. A giant hole in the wall at the back of the room sticks out like a sore thumb. They go inside the hole and see a pathway going deeper underground. "What the hell?" An officer remarks.

"Looks like we'll have to go deeper underground. You still got our signal?" Riley asks Henry.

"Yeah." Henry answers back.

They start to walk down the debris slowly, assuming there's something deep below that they might not want to alert. They turn on their flashlights, and they start to hear something. People talking. Mexican. Some American. Talking about the times they were in the army, or times they broke out of prison. And the experiments that were run here. Riley motions to the officers for a heads-up, and stay on their feet.

The officers continue to walk down the abyss, and stay as quiet as possible. They reach the end and they see another giant hole in a wall. The officers would comment, but they need to stay quiet. They can save it for later. Riley looks over the corner ever so slightly and sees some men. About seven of them. All armed with body armor to match. It's seven to four. Riley tells the other officers in a hushed voice what he's found. The officers, too, are wearing bullet proof vests, but the other men are likely more armored. They look military in style. "I'll go in and try to ask nicely if the officers are here. If things get heated, one of you throw smoke in the area, and we'll take them down." Riley tells his strategy plan to his fellow officers in a hushed voice.

The smoke grenade isn't too dense, but as long as you're not in it, you won't be confused. Riley takes another look at them before going in, and sees tubes at the back of their necks. Around their arms. He thinks back to the people on floor five. Some had the same tubes, though a little different style of tubing. Riley begins to feel even more unnerved, and takes a deep breath as he puts his gun back into his holster to signal that he's not here to hurt them. He comes out with his hands up and the men point their guns at him, with one shouting. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just here for the commissioner and another fellow officer. That's all." Riley answers back, calm.

"How did you find us?" Another man shouts back.

"We tracked the commissioner's phone." Riley answers.

"Gordon's the commissioner. He's not here." The same one shouts.

Riley takes a deep breath and answers. "He was discharged. Someone else was given the badge."

"Whoever you want, you're not getting 'em!" Another man barks back.

Riley notices their masks. Like Mexican wrestlers. But something more sinister about these masks. The man are about to pull the trigger on their guns, and Riley shouts, "Wait!"

As soon as he says this, an officer throws smoke into the area. But the dispatch was too slow, and Riley ends up shot. He falls to the ground, crawling away from the smoke as he and the officers start shooting at the men in parts probably not covered in body armor. The legs. The arms. The necks. Least they can do is immobilize them. Then something unexpected happens. The men start juicing up and the bullets do almost nothing. One of them ram into Riley, knocking him a significant distance. Though using a smaller sample than Bane does, the men are still powerful. One blow to the rib cage is enough to break them in half, and then a hit to the gut knocks all the air out of him. Followed by smashing their faces into their knees, and killing them. The officers start to scramble. Everything happens so fast.

The remaining officers are then picked off easily. There's a strategy to the brutality. Even if they move like monsters, their attacks are focused. The last officer has his face smashed in with a boot to the head. The other men stayed back as one man finished them all.

He deactivates his Venom and returns to normal, feeling weakened by the effects. He falls to his knees, catching his breath. Who was so invulnerable seconds ago is now on an adrenaline high and muscle deterioration, but will return to normal in a few hours or so. One of the men go inside a door they were guarding, and see the officers that were supposed to be rescued tied up, just now waking up from their sleep when Deadshot shot them. One of Bane's men search for their cellphones while the officers are still groggy. He closes the door and the other men have grabbed the other officers' phones, and they put them on the ground as they shoot the devices obsolete. They then grab the bodies of the dead officers, and throw them in the room with the other cops as a prize for them when they come to. When everything is done, one of the men say that they need to go forward with the plan fast. "They'll know we're here. We need to relocate." The same man contacts Bane.

"Then go." Bane answers back over the comms. "Leave the bodies here."

"Affirmative." The man agrees. "The other cops are waking up."

"Cuff them and put a cloth over their head." Bane commands.

They follow the orders and head to the other base, restraining the cops on the way. Blowing up the dead.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

Selina is still in the vault, bored out of her mind. She slides her finger across the floor, waiting to be let out. But she has an idea. There are Penguin goons by the vault to stay on the lookout. Though the chances of her ever getting out of a reinforced door by herself is slim, Penguin advised assistance regardless. "Aren't you ever gonna let me out? I'm hungry, thirsty, and it smells like crap in here."

The guards don't answer back, and Selina gets in close to the door to announce that she's going to take a nap, and that she's about to take her clothes off. Still in her prison clothes. The two men look at each other in excitement, but they snap out of it. Keeping on guard. Selina proceeds to slide out of her shirt slowly, and announces, "I'm taking my shirt off now. You sure you don't wanna come in?"

The two men stay strong. "You ever seen a real woman in her underwear?" Selina announces, only now noticing how cold the floor is. But she'll do whatever she can to get out. "You sure you don't want to help me take off these tight pants? A nice strong man like yourself?"

"You go in there and I'll blow yer head off, boy." Penguin says in the guards' comms, watching the camera feed with them protecting the vault.

"We ain't comin' in!" A guard shouts back in the vault.

One of them looks at the other and asks, "What if she's right?"

"About stripping? It's a trick."

"But don'tcha wanna see?"

"I'm sticking to Penguin's word. He's the one with the guns. Selina's just desperate."

"Yeah, I guess yer right, but c'mon. Who doesn't wanna see her in her underwear?"

The guard thinks for a moment and answers back, "You got a point. But we can't."

"You better not." Penguin says over the comms.

The two men are obviously conflicted. "I'm in my underwear! Come on in, boys! And maybe you can take off my _other_ clothes."

The two men look at each other. Breathing heavily. Wide-eyed. "Don't you dare!" Penguin comes in over the comms, and the two guards start opening the vault. When they finally manage to get it open after sloppily gripping the handles, they see Selina still in her clothes. "You tricked us!" One guard shouts.

"Because you're so easy." Selina remarks.

They start firing their guns at her, and Selina tries to evade. She gets in close and scratches and pummels the guards. She knocks them out and heads for the closest cover as fast as he can. To hide from a building full of people coming to the gunfire.

She could've taken one of the guards' guns, but she was never a good aim with a gun. And it would slow her down. She uses what darkness is available. But out of all the people in the building, Bane is what she worries about the most.

Selina's heart races as she decides to hide in a storage room. Waiting for the heat to die down. She waits in the dark. The terrible smell making her feel like retching. She starts to get hotter the more she stays inside. Her heart shoots up as she hears people coming by her vicinity. Accompanied by fear, anger also lies beneath her slender exterior, though someone so small can hold a hell of a grudge. "Where'd she go?!" Someone shouts.

"How the hell'd I know?" Another barks back.

"Least she ain't Batman."

"She'll mess you up. Don't piss 'er off."

"Just keep lookin' for that cat freak, got it?"

Selina, though flattered, holds her breath tightly. Only slightly breathing through her mouth. Quietly. She then hears bigger footsteps. _Bane_ , she thinks. She shrivels up. She holds her breath, wincing as she tries to stay calm when her heart beats a drum. Her hands clamped up. Her nails digging into her hands. Her teeth clenched like a vice. Making her jaw ache. Her nerves electrified. She can hear Bane's breathing through the door. Through his mask. Selina starts to get more unnerved. Knowing he suspects something. Bane's breathing gets closer. Selina's heart beats faster.

Bane then runs his hand against the surface of the door. He then punches the steel door, Denting it. He hits it again to intimidate Selina. And it's working. Selina starts panicking. She can't hold it in anymore.

One more punch to the door will break it. But Bane decides to leave. Selina can hear the breathing getting farther away. His footsteps getting quieter. Selina unclenches. She feels like she's shriveled up for hours on end. She catches her breath. She doesn't feel like she's safe yet. Or if she ever will. Least of all, here.

She waits, and though her body should be calming down, it's still on alert. She waits to be found. For someone to open the door and drag her out and shoot her. She leans her ear against the door, listening for any stragglers. She hears nothing, but she can't fully trust her senses. But her senses do tell her the storage room is getting colder. And stinkier.

She knows she can't stay in there forever, and finally, she starts to open the door after waiting what felt like hours. She peeks over the door and sees no one. She looks to her right and Bane grabs her by the throat, dragging her back into the vault, juicing up, and smashing the door so she won't get out. He deactivates the Venom and goes back to where he was before. "No one is to go near that vault. Or I will rip your throat out."

Bane's men picked up the people Selina knocked out earlier, and put them in the center of the room. They start to come to now and Penguin puffs smoke in their faces. Some of Penguin's men are standing in front of them with shotguns, as Oswald remarks. "I'm a man of my word."

He motions to to his men with the guns, and they should be blowing their heads off like the boss ordered, but they're hesitating. "What's the hold up?" Penguin snarls.

"These are our friends, boss." One of them answers.

"Not anymore they're not." Penguin strikes back.

The two look at Penguin, worried. Angry. "Now do it or I'm gonna have to blow yerr heads off, too." Penguin orders, sternly. "Just close yer eyes, and blow their heads off."

The victims of the shotguns are begging for them to fire, and Penguin scoffs as he puffs some smoke. "Wusses."

One of the men holding the shotgun barks back, "Well if you're so tough, why don't you do it?"

Penguin gets wide-eyed, chuckling. He has one hand on the cane, and another on the cigar. "I don't pay you to ask questions. And I don't pay you pounces to play nice."

Then, one of the goons that was going to get shot, pulls the trigger on the shotgun on himself as brain matter sprays everywhere. The man who was holding that shotgun drops it and looks in horror. "See, it wasn't so hard, was it?" Penguin says to anyone listening. A circle has formed of Penguin's men and Bane's men together, watching the events unfold.

Penguin looks at the "shooter" and chuckles, "Don't worry. It gets easier."

The other man with the shotgun drops his gun too, and then Penguin motions to some of Bane's men to put the two men next to the one waiting to be executed. Forcibly. One of Penguin's men comes down, picks up the shotgun, and blows one of their heads off without hesitation. "Atta boy!"

He then proceeds to take down the others, but leaving the best for last. The one that survived a little longer. The three men were screaming at Penguin. In anger. In disgust. Once it's done, Penguin takes a long puff of smoke into the air and remarks joyfully. "There. All done. Dump the bodies somewhere nice. And scoop up the guts." He then goes on with his day like nothing happened.

Some of Penguin's men are afraid now. Worried. But this was a way of establishing control. Demonstrating what happens when you fail. Bane watched the events unfold, and grins with respect. But knows there is still work to be done.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Bane is in his office with his door locked while he's detaching his tubes and draining out the Venom as it's wearing off. He doesn't want to be seen as vulnerable. Weak. He unlatches the pads around his body to drain the Venom, as it pours out from inside him. As the green ooze has finally been drained from his body, it falls down the grate in the office to the sewage system. He latches the pads back on to inject himself with more syringes to apply a fresh sample of his drug, but at the moment he's very weak and lightheaded. He struggles to get a grip on the syringes, and Bane starts getting frustrated.

He grits his teeth in frustration when his body isn't cooperating to his liking, and after numerous tries, Bane finally grips one of the syringes and he injects himself in the neck. He feels more in control with his body, and he then injects himself with the other two vials. He feels himself being revitalized. Rebuilt. Stronger.

Bane needs a constant supply of Venom running through him to feel more powerful, and because he's become so addicted to it. Only when it goes on overdrive, is when Bane is at his strongest, and when he'll be at his weakest. Bane is finished resupplying himself, but he doesn't open his office just yet. He's still recovering. Still vulnerable.

But moments later, he presses a button at the bottom of the table to unlock the door to his office. Penguin knocks on the door and Bane gets up to see who is at the door. He opens the door and Penguin walks in. Bane seemingly towers over Oswald like a mountain, and Penguin looks up at him and asks, "I'd like to ask a couple questions."

Bane lets him walk in as he closes the door and locks it. Bane goes to sit in his chair and remarks to Penguin. "Your men are useless."

"If I could, I'd take all the money myself from selling weapons. But as you can see, I ain't as built as you are."

"No." Bane shoots him down.

Penguin looks confused. "No? For what?"

"You're not getting my Venom."

Penguin scoffs."I wasn't...gonna take yer..Venom."

"Then why do you speak as if you're guilty?" Bane strikes back.

Penguin shakes his head and remarks, "Sod off."

"What is your business here, Oswald?"

Penguin looks at him for a minute and finally says, "Why do you need all these super villains? I mean, look at ya, you can kill the Bat by ya'self!"

"I mean to wear him down." Bane answers.

Penguin looks at him like he doesn't believe him. "That ain't true. You know it. What is it?"

Bane takes a second to respond as he replies. "I want to humiliate him. Show him people aren't afraid of the Batman."

Of course, it's only a half-truth. Something else is at play. "He's done this for five years. We know how he operates."

Penguin shakes his head. "You sayin' you're afraid of the Batman?"

Bane's silence is an answer. Penguin chuckles. "The big bad Bane is scared of a bat." He laughs some more as Bane smirks as he announces another thing. "But I know who he is."

Penguin stops for a second and questions, "What?"

"I know who he is."

Penguin looks at Bane like he's holding another cigar right in front of him. "Well, who is he?"

"Bruce Wayne."

Penguin takes a second to digest, then busts out laughing. Bane gets up and points to a wall with pictures of the Batman and Bruce Wayne in newspapers and elsewhere. He takes one of Batman and puts it on the table before Penguin. "Look at his suit. His gadgets. Who else would be so rich to afford that?" Bane interrogates.

Penguin stops laughing. He takes time to digest this. Bane then points to a picture of Bruce Wayne and adds, "He vanishes for years, and two people come back. Him, and the Batman."

Penguin's face, now flushed with shock, looks at Bane in disbelief, even still. But he can't help but agree either. "It's simple. A broken man is presumed dead by his own means, or otherwise. He's not seen for years, and seemingly returns as a myth to fight what errors had fallen before him as a child?" Bane elaborates.

Penguin's starting to come full-circle and Bane adds, "I don't fear the Batman. Who would fear Bruce Wayne?"

Penguin's filled with awe. "H-how long did it take you to connect all this?!"

"A while, but much faster than everyone else, apparently." Bane says, almost annoyed.

At first, Penguin wasn't sure whether to not he'd fear Bane. He always thought of him as big and dumb. Predictable. But now, he does. Respectful, but fearful. That he has something to match his strength. "But you're not to say a word of this to anyone." Bane gets in close to Penguin. His voice deep and demanding.

Penguin agrees, knowing what'd happen if he didn't. "Y-you won't hear a peep outta me."

"Good." Bane adds. "They'll find out sooner or later."

Bane walks back to his chair and Penguin looks at him as if he's got another plan at play, or if he has a million other things going in in his brain. "So, uh, what's the cops for? And Catwoman?"

"Bait, for Batman. And he can only save one." Bane answers.

Penguin smirks and pauses for a second, asking another question. "What's our next move?"

Bane cracks a little smile as he thinks of another idea. Knowing this one will be a doozy. Hitting at the heart of Gotham. The tallest building in the city, for the richest man in town.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

Wayne Enterprises is going through business as usual, and all of a sudden, a loud thud and an inhuman roar is heard outside the lobby. A hole is made through the wall and Killer Croc appears, rampaging through the building, slaughtering everyone he sees. The guards are caught off-guard and don't know what action to take. The bullets are useless. And Croc gets the chance to quell his hunger.

Alarms are sent to Alfred's and Bruce's phones. Bruce is at a political meeting with Gordon at the GCPD, and Alfred is at the Manor. He contacts the Nightwing as fast as possible, and Dick tries to get to the Batcave even faster, and then head to Wayne Enterprises. Dick is confident that he can take on Killer Croc, but he's worried for the employees that are a part of a slaughter fest. But a thought runs through his head during his ride: Why would Croc attack Wayne Enterprises? And why would he ever take orders from anyone?

Killer Croc has managed to get to the second floor, and is killing even more people. Tasers. Fire extinguishers. Nothing works. And people end up with their hands bitten off, or worse. Croc finishes on the second floor and climbs the elevator shaft to the third one. More people were about to take the elevator to either escape or investigate the incidents, and Croc devours them.

Nightwing arrives and stops Croc from biting someone's head off, and tells everyone on the floor to start running. Dick starts thinking of what's the best way to stop Killer Croc, having dealt with him before, only briefly. "They don't feed crocs in prison anymore?" Dick quips.

Killer Croc snarls and rushes towards him. Dick may be messing around, but knows that he needs to focus. He dodges the attack and hits the beast with the back of his Escrima stick, sending a significant shock through his system, using a higher frequency than usual. Dick doesn't think it'll do much of anything, but it's a start. Dick stays on his feet. Killer Croc can be deceptively fast. Dick grabs a computer, yanks it out of the socket, and as the monster lunges towards him, Nightwing smashes him with it as hard as he can near the jaw.

Croc will be angry by now. He swings his tail in Nightwing's direction. He leaps over it and lands with a Escrima stick strike on the ground, sending a shockwave the beast's way. The electrical power doesn't faze Croc much. The reptile grabs his own computer and throws it at him. Dick ducks and slides towards him, striking his ankle again. "Hold still!" Croc snarls.

He swings at him but he misses. He swings again and grabs him this time, digging his hands into Nightwing's chest. He then goes for a chomp and Nightwing puts his stick in Croc's mouth, electrocuting him.

He then drops Nightwing, screaming in pain. _He's gonna be pissed now._ Dick thinks. And he is. The beast goes for a bite, and Dick dodges it. Croc ends up hitting a window, cracking it. Dick then puts his sticks together and makes a staff, hitting the beast in the back. Slamming him into the window to crack it again. But makes sure he doesn't fall out the building.

Croc gets frustrated that his food is too hard to hit. He goes for another chomp, swinging about. Fighting sloppily. Dick disconnects the staff and returns to the Batons tactic. He watches Killer Croc for an opening. He's moving too fast and too dangerous to attack head on. Croc starts getting more frustrated. Dick then finds a fire extinguisher and swings at the monster with it. And in a blind rage, Croc bites the canister as ice and smoke sprays everywhere. Dick evaded most of the blast, but residue still made it's way onto his suit.

But he didn't breathe anything in, at least. Croc, unfortunately, breathed in too much. It starts to clog up his lungs as he struggles to breathe. He then falls to the ground, breathing heavily, or barely breathing.

Dick finally catches his breath and Alfred starts calling the police and the ambulances. Dick's still dripping blood from the claw marks around his chest, and he clasps his chest to close the wound. It went pretty far in. But he has other scratches too, though not as bad Dick tells Alfred to bring in the Batwing for Croc, and take his motorcycle with it. "And Alfred, prep the Medbay." Dick orders as he waits for his ride, nursing some wounds. "Standard giant crocodile procedure."


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dick manages to get home, and Croc has been sent to the authorities, and the paramedics are investigating the gunk clogging up Croc's lungs. Dick can't help but feel a little responsible, and feels guilty.

Bruce is back home and watching the battle replay through Dick's lenses in his mask, while the hero of the day is being patched up by Alfred in the Batcave. Dick is rewatching the replay, seeing Croc up close without having to stay alive. "He doesn't mess around." Dick comments.

When it gets to the end of the fight, at Croc biting the extinguisher, Bruce remains as silent as ever. Normally, Bruce would have a conversation with Dick about they don't kill. But this time, Bruce is quiet. Quieter than usual. A disturbing silence with something darker underneath.

Dick watches the events unfold, and he hangs his head in shame. Alfred pats him on the back. "I hope he's all right." Dick says, worried.

Bruce turns around in his chair and looks at Dick over his peripheral. "I called the ambulance on him."

Bruce now turns the chair around to face Dick in full view, eyeing him. "We don't kill, Bruce."

Bruce tightens his grip on the arm rests of his chair and responds, "He's a cannibal, Dick."

"And he needs help with his condition."

"What if he would've eaten you, too?"

"Let's just focus on why Mr. Jones decided to attack Wayne Enterprises." Dick says, half-heartedly.

Bruce looks down at the floor in disgust, then he goes back to detective mode. "Someone has ordering Clayface, too."

He turns his chair back around to face the computer, and goes back to the Arkham Asylum CCTV footage. "But who would order Croc around?" Dick asks.

"Maybe there's a bigger fish." Alfred jokes, but he might be onto something.

"Bigger than Killer Croc?" Batman asks.

Dick shivers at the thought. "If I use the CCTV footage around the city to track their movements, I might be able to pinpoint where his boss is, and stop him." Batman informs.

"But won't you need backup?" Dick asks.

"You're too wounded. And I can handle it."

Dick sighs. "Probably don't want Barbara taking on someone worse than Croc."

Bruce follows their movements, and it leads him underground. In a sewage system. "Convenient." Alfred comments.

Bruce puts his suit on and revs up the Batmobile. "Wait, it's daylight!" Dick shouts over the car.

Batman doesn't answer, and the only answer he gives is the screeching of his black-clad monster leaving marks on the floor on the cave.

Dick looks up to Alfred and asks, worried. "He's gonna be okay, right?"

Alfred takes a deep breath. "One can only pray."

Alfred tells Dick to stay on the bed as he goes back up to the Manor, leaving with the words, "I'm not watching whatever happens."

Dick wants to tell the Batcomputer to turn off, but he can't help but wat has Batman speeds through the streets in daytime. Perhaps Dick underestimated how serious Bruce is taking this situation.

Batman's appearance during the day startles citizens. Feeling they were safe during the day, but now, it doesn't seem that way. They stop and stare at the Batmobile as it speeds throughout the city, walking back whenever it gets close to them. Some even go back inside until it's gone. Batman notices the startled civilians, but only one thing occupies his thoughts.

Batman reaches the sewage system, and decides to go on foot from here. The CCTV footage didn't show exactly where Clayface went underground, but the caped crusader listens to anything out of the normal underground. But fortunately, it wasn't that far from the entrance to the underground. This section of Gotham was closed off years ago. Batman thinks.

He sees a door and turns on the detective mode to see what's behind it. A bunch of men, and only a few of them with guns. They think they're safe underground, where no one can find them. But something did.

They must be hiding in what used to be the Living Area, when workers were originally working on Gotham Underground, and needed a spot to go back to after work was done for the day. They were remade yards away from each other to accommodate for going farther every other day.

Batman analyzes the situation. As soon as he opens the door, the criminals will see him. So he takes a step back, and kicks the door down. Everyone turns to see what the hell happened, and they see Batman. "BATMAN! At day?!" A man shouts.

"He must be pissed!"

"Get the guns! Go! Go!"

Batman throws a Batarang at a nearby gun cache, electrocuting the first person to touch it. Batman fires his grappling gun at a thug, and reels in towards them, closing the distance between him and everyone else. Madness and fear ensues as Batman takes down the criminals with ease, slicing some of them with his blades on his gauntlets. He throws a batarang at the exit point of a machine gun, and it blows up in the man's face.

Batman breaks their bones, their jaws, their legs, rib cages, slicing some of them open. The criminals don't stand a chance. Some of the criminals start backing away from Batman, afraid. Seeing the blood and broken bodies all around them. "W-what'd we do?!" Someone shouts.

Batman grapples him in towards him and he grabs him by the throat, holds him up in the air, and slams him onto the ground with a loud crack. "Jesus Christ!" Another one shouts.

Two men are remaining, and they both have guns. Pointed at Batman. But they won't fire them. They look at each other and one of them shouts for the other to fire. They start firing and Batman hides behind his cape as the bullets ricochet off of it.

Batman throws a batarang away from him, and away from the criminals, only to reverse back and find itself in someone's head. The other man stops firing his machine gun, afraid. "Oh my God."

He drops his gun and tends to the man who just had a batarang lodged in his head, saying how sorry he was. He then turns to Batman and shouts in anger as he runs towards him with the gun, going kamikaze. Batman pulls his cape back up, and as the man nears him, the caped crusader releases his cape and he grabs the gun, pointing it up as he punches him in the face. He then strikes his shoulder. He then drops his gun. Before he can react, Batman head butts him and uses his blades to cut across his eyes.

As the lair starts to grow quiet, a voice breaks the silence. "I found them useless anyway." Bane comments on Batman taking down the Penguin thugs, though not all of them are here at this time.

Batman looks up at Bane, standing on a catwalk high above the ground. "Who the hell are you?"

Bane leaps over the railing and falls to the ground, landing on his feet, without any pain. Bane hits his chest and activated his Venom as he answers, "I, am Bane!"

Batman gets ready for a fight, but Bane has already closed the gap at incredible speed. He grabshim by the throat, and throws at a wall, almost breaking the bricks. Batman barely has time to catch his breath as Bane starts to deliver punishing blows at incredible speeds, and hitting even harder. Batman slices Bane's arm, just barely leaving a mark through his rock hard skin. Bane is about to throw another punch before Batman starts delivering his flurry of combos.

He kicks his knee and uppercuts him under the jaw. He uses all his strength to hit him in the abdomen a number of times, and then he kicks his stomach. Bane chuckles as he lets Batman have his fun, and then the Venomized Brute grabs the Batman's hand before he can land a strike, and squeezes it. "You're not ready,"

Bane holds his fist and crushes every bone in his hand, and finishes, "Mr. Wayne."

Batman grunts in pain, but as Bane says those two words, he begins to go into a rage. Almost ignoring the pain. "How do you know my name?!"

"Finish me, and I'll tell you why."

Batman's rage begins as he starts to attack Bane with the same ferocity he did, but is woefully outmatched. Batman keeps trudging along, despite the obvious setbacks. But eventually, Batman has to realize that he's going to die here if he doesn't do something.

Batman throws down a smoke pellet, and Bane has to figure out where he is. During this distraction, Batman calls his Batmobile to come in and ram Bane down. Batman gets ready to evade the car as it comes in, and as the smoke dissipates, Bane hears a car and turns around. Batman leaps out of the way as the car rams the brute at 200 mph, and pinning him against a generator, getting electrocuted. But it's getting ready to explode.

Batman puts his cape up again to prepare for the explosion, but it doesn't happen. Apparently it's a stronger generator than it looks. A moment of silence strikes through the mayhem when Bane is finished getting electrocuted, and then a roar breaks the quiet. Bane picks up the car and is getting ready to throw it at Batman. "I have not been beaten!"

Batman types in a sequence of codes onto his gauntlet as fast as he can. This releases the flares on the side of the Batmobile, leaving Bane in smoke again. Then, the car emits another surge as Bane grabs the car, and throws it blindly, hoping to hit Batman. He almost would've, if Batman wasn't expecting it.

Batman's running out of options. He can't penetrate his skin. He can't electrocute him. He can't hurt him. And he can't out-maneuver him. And ramming him with a heavily-armored car at 200 mph was his last resort. Bane walks out of the smoke, and Batman has to think fast before the brute delivers a killing blow. If it weren't for his suit, or him being as tough as he is, Batman would've died long ago. Stubbornness and persistence is another factor. But it won't help him here.

So Batman thinks of one last tactic. He reaches into his utility belt and gets out his explosive gel. He sprays it on his fist, and tosses it aside as Bane comes running. Batman holds the detonator from the explosive gel in his other hand, and he waits for the perfect moment to strike. And with what strength he has left, he swings one last punch and blows up Bane's face, and Batman's hand with it. They both fall to the ground, in defeat.

The quarters are silent now, and Batman hasn't closed his eyes yet. He won't allow himself to. His eyes are getting heavier with each second that passes, but he has to get to his Batmobile and return to the Batcave. As he leaves his rage, he realizes how much pain he's in.

Batman looks at Bane's vitals, and sees he's still breathing. Even still. Batman calls back the Batmobile to his position and tries to get to his feet, but he can barely move. He tries with what strength he has strength he has left, and manages to finally get to his feet, obviously taking his time, despite the fear that Bane could get back up himself any minute now. He slides into the Batmobile and turns on auto-pilot back to the Batcave, and before he knows it, his eyes finally close, leaving him in the dark. Afraid of what could pop out next.


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Writer's Note: Pumped out a new chapter faster than usual because I remembered something in the last chapter I forgot to add, or forgot about and was already established. Also, couldn't sleep last night.

* * *

Batman arrives at the Batcave, halfway between consciousness. Every now and then, he opens his eyes to see if he's at home yet. Batman gets up from the car, but ends up falling to the floor. He gets back up on his feet and can feel the striking pain in his hip when he tried to use the explosive gel detonator without having full control of his hand after being crushed. "Batcomputer. On." Batman demands, weakly.

The computer whirs to life, displaying news and tech. "Show me the recent surveillance feed. Codename: Batman." He demands again.

The recorded video starts up in the Batcave from earlier. "Fast forward." Bruce demands.

The surveillance feed fast forwards, and then Batman asks, "Rewind."

It rewinds to Bane vs Batman, and the brute saying Mr Wayne has haunted his thoughts ever since. Fear has since then been turned into anger. Anger that can only lead to something even more terrifying. "Replay." Batman demands, wanting to hear those words again to re-motivate himself. He listens to it again and again as his anger just grows stronger. He looks Bane dead in the eyes in the recording. Looking at the screen in disgust. In silence. He mutters to himself under his breath. "You're not finished with me, _Bane._ "

The words loop over and over as Batman feels every nerve ending light on fire. Smoldering beneath his skin. "You're _never_ finished with me."

Batman sees a man with death in his eyes, and perhaps that same feeling is in Bruce's eyes, too. But because of this terrible hatred, Batman had forgotten one of the things he had gone to the HQ for. Catwoman. He snaps out of his trance and stops the replay. He calls Dick, who is up in the Manor. "I need you to get Catwoman at my last location."

"Why?" Dick answers.

"I was so focused on Bane it slipped my mind."

" _Bane,_ huh?"

"Just find her. It should be clear."

"You sound like hell."

Bruce hands up the phone and goes to the MedBay to patch himself up, but it's easier said than done. Feeling like his friendship with Alfred isn't the greatest right now, considering how distrustful he's been. And though he blames himself, he believes this is the only path as the Batman that'd make sense.

While Bruce is patching himself up, he really can't do much by himself. Alfred comes down and jokes, "Bats don't have hands to patch themselves up, Master Bruce."

"Thought you hated me." Bruce retorts.

"I still have a duty to keep you safe, even if that job requires me keeping you from bleeding all over the floor."\

Alfred does his magic on Bruce, and after a while, he decides to add, "Even if I strongly disagree with your methods."

"You keep changing your mind." Bruce remarks.

"Because I'm old, Bruce."

Bruce doesn't crack a smile this time. "So, who was this, _madman_ , that was giving orders to Croc?"

" _Bane."_

Alfred finishes patching up Bruce, and then comments. "Fitting, at least."

"I rammed him with my car and he's still alive."

Alfred notices Bruce's change in tone. How he hasn't stopped talking in a deeper voice. Like something "Well, he sure did a number on you."

Alfred pretends not to notice. "Remember when it was just the mob? Just the regular criminals you had to deal with?"

"I remember."

"Now, we have men twice your size or people made out of clay."

"This life isn't simple. If it were, there wouldn't be a Batman."

"But you didn't come home looking like this."

Bruce grimaces as he still feels the pulsing of his nerves from the beatdown he had. Alfred comments, afraid. "Is this still a war on crime? Or is this just war?"

Bruce thinks back to Bane and doesn't say which one, but the answer is clear. " I just hope you don't forget why you put on that mask in the first place." Alfred adds.

Bruce nods back in approval, and Alfred tells Bruce to lie down for a while to heal from his wounds. Normally, Bruce would object, but this time, he agrees. Knowing that next time, he can be prepared, and end Bane before anyone else finds out his identity.


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Evan and Harry are in an abandoned warehouse, starving. Thirsty. They've been tied to each other for a day now, with no food or water. They try asking for something, anything. No one brings anything. "Where the hell's Batman?" Evan asks Harry. "Or his helpers?"  
"They'll come." Harry mutters. Tired. Malnourished.

Evan hangs his head as he looks up at the sky, hoping for a signal. He knows he should stay positive, and that he should toughen it up, but not much you can do when you feel like you're dying. Evan looks back at the ground. Weary. "Better come soon." 

The officers would want to fight their way out of this, but considering that they're both armed and probably killed the other officers, they decide to play it safely. "Why won't they kill us?" Evan asks.

"Bait, maybe." Harry answers. 

Evan and Harry hear some voice over the comms. From Bane's men. They can't tell what it's saying, but they find out quickly enough. Bane's men set the timers on the bombs, and start to back away from the building, still staying on lookout for any other helpers.. Once they leave, the two officers look around for anything to cut the ropes with. They don't see a cutter around. They'd call for help, but their comms devices were removed from their uniforms. 

They start by removing their shoes and socks, trying to slide out of the rope. Once that's finished, Evan quickly commands. "Move your hands back and forth! Loosen the bond!" 

They're not breaking out fast enough, considering they're still really weak, and the bombs could go off in about a minute. "We got a minute left!" Harry shouts back.

"Don't look at the timer!" Evan shouts. 

Then they hear gunfire. Shouting. Evan and Harry know what that means. "Keep trying!" Evan shouts to Harry, holding in a smile. 

Though it's not Batman, Batgirl has shown up. She's moving too much for the men to get a good shot off, and she tries to knock them out fast enough to get to the officers. Once the way seems to be clear, she rushes towards the officers and gets out her Batarang. "Hold still!" She shouts. 

She rubs her Batarang against the rope as fast and as hard as she can to break them free. One of Bane's men comes back, juiced up. He rushes towards Barbara with great speed. She has to think of a multitude of options before he clears the gap. 

She uses her current Batarang to cut the man's leg as hard as she can, barely making a mark through the skin. Barbara was sure this'd work, but wasn't sure about her "new friend's" augmentation. She has only seconds before she's smashed into the concrete, and she assumes that everywhere over the guard's body is going to be impenetrable, but she has one option. 

She uses her Batarang to stab him in the eye. Though it was an unfortunate solution for her to make, it was the only one. The guard stumbles and clutches the Batarang in his eye, screaming in pain. 

Barbara looks at the timers. Thirty seconds. Twenty-nine. She gets another Batarang to keep cutting the rope, still a little grossed out and feeling guilty for her actions. She shakes her head in disapproval at how tough the rope actually is. _Don't look at the timers. Don't look at the timers._ Barbara thinks. 

Then, a sound of something falling to the ground is heard behind Barbara, and Harry can't help but watch everything that happens. But the next thing he wishes he didn't. The brute pulled out the Batarang from his eye, and is still coming after Batgirl. "Holy shit!" Harry shouts, terrified. 

He starts closing his eyes now, wincing as he tries to hold in a barf. Barbara can't do the other eye because she was guilty enough for the first one, and the timers are almost done. The rope is almost cut. But she's about to be crushed. She cuts the rope at last and lunges towards the officers, knocking them down but giving them space away from the monster. While they're down, Barbara shouts to the officers to get out. And a surprising development has occurred. The brute is deflating. Weakened. Clasping his eye socket in pain. _Did it wear off?_ Barbara thinks. 

Barbara looks at the timers. She has seconds to get out of here. She hastily grabs her grapple gun and zips out of the building just as it blows, but missing the explosion. The brute, of course, in his state, won't make it out. 

Barbara meets back up with the officers, catching her breath like they are. "Th-thank you, Batgirl." Harry commends her, still a little grossed out.

"Thanks for the assist." Evan adds. "Wasn't sure anyone would show up. How'd you find us?" 

Barbara takes a moment to catch her breath as she answers back. "There was an eye-witness report of some men carrying officers away into a warehouse. And then there were the cargo trucks blocking the street." 

Barbara then winces as she thinks about how she skipped a class. "You guys all right?" Barbara asks.

"We could really use some food." Evan responds back. 

Barbara smiles back as she calls the Batmobile to her location. "Let's get you back to the GCPD." She then looks at Evan's badge. _Commissioner._

"What the hell happened to this thing?" Harry questions as he sees the car a little busted.

"I don't know." Barbara answers. 

As they get in the back, Barbara drives in the front, and heads back the GCPD. Knowing that she's going to need some answers from her commissioner.


	30. Chapter Thirty

(Writer Note: So I've been playing a LOT of Conan Exiles lately, and lost track of time way more than I should have. I have not abandoned this story, and hope to make continue this to the end.)

* * *

The drive to the GCPD is mysteriously quiet. But Evan and Harry are just thrilled to be alive. At some point during the ride, Harry decides to break the awful silence.

"How long have you been Batgirl?" Harry asks Barbara.

"Almost two years." She answers back.

Silence continues for a bit longer, and then Barbara finally asks the question that's been gnawing at her like a vice. "So, commissioner," she then clears her throat, "what happened to Gordon?"

Evan and Harry look at each other. Upset. "Quincy fired him." Evan answers.

Barbara tightens her grip on the wheel. It hits her like a bullet. She pauses for a second so she can catch her breath. "W-why?" She stutters.

"Sharp didn't like that Jim was condoning Batman killing people, and how it was giving the GCPD a bad name." Harry adds.

Barbara shakes her head in disapproval. "We haven't seen him since." Harry comments.

Barbara doesn't say anything for a while. Letting the information sink in and trying not to burst. Keeping the identity a secret. "When did this happen?" Barbara asks.

"Sometime last night." Harry answers.

Barbara feels her insides close in on her. Thinking about her little secret. And she worries that the truth will be worse. But she has to lay down her bearings to breathe a little more. "Maybe," She stutters. "Maybe Batman's right."

As she speaks, it's like there's a chill in the air. The officers dumbfounded. "Killing the bad guys?" Evan asks.

"Yes." Barbara replies.

"We do too, but," Evan starts.

Barbara sighs. Still guilty for her first kill earlier. Evan doesn't finish, but Barbara can fill in the dots. "Does Batman know about this?" Harry asks.

"No. I don't want him too. I don't want him to see me as something else." Barbara responds, somber. "Or even," she stops herself. Thinking about a certain someone. How he would react. Or how her father would react. "The system's broken." She adds.

She lets out a heavy sigh. "But, I gotta stay inside the law anyway I can."

She shakes her head as she expands. "But, I don't like this, feeling. This guilt."

"I say they deserve it." Evan retorts.

Barbara doesn't answer back. "Two-Face. Firefly. Zsaaz." Evan recites. "They deserved it. As bad as it is that Harv had to go out like that."

"He should've gotten Joker too." Harry strikes back.

"Worse than Zsaaz." Evan responds, coldly. "You don't know _what_ he's gonna do to you."

"Look at what he did to Harvey." Harry remarks, regretful.

A brief pause lingers after Harry speaks, but Barbara retorts. "If someone had stopped the Joker sooner, hundreds of people wouldn't be dead." She grits her teeth and tightens her grip on the wheel as she mutters back. "And those hundreds of people wouldn't have died because of a damn justice system!"

She says it louder than she expects, but she doesn't know what to feel when she says it. Relief. Guilt. "It needs to be stricter. It'll be the first thing I do in this damn city. Send people like the Joker to death row. I'll make it happen." Evan demands, in a harsh, authoritative voice. Bitterness lingers on every word.

Barbara and Harry feel worried. Like Evan has a sick vendetta hidden in his plan. They reach the GCPD, and Barbara drops them off. As they walk back inside, Barbara stops for a moment before she drives off. Trying to cool off. And during all the excitement, she forgot that she had school to go back to. With the time it is now, she'll have a couple hours more of school left. But she doesn't know how she'll be able to go back to a regular day after this one.


	31. Chapter Thirty-One

Dick is up in the Manor, resting. Contemplating about how things have turned out the last couple days. How he's afraid. And about Bane. He couldn't watch all of the feed of the fight, worried. The parts he saw was enough for him. He wandered off to a bed up surface, and as he was relaxing, he gets a call from Bruce about how he needs to go back to Bane's base and get Catwoman. He mentions he got distracted and he was too weak to get to her. "You should hurry while he's unconscious. But I'm not sure how long he'll be out." Bruce adds, cautiously.

Dick sighs. "On it, Bruce."

He sits up from his bed and mutters. "This is gonna hurt."

On his way down to the Batcave, he avoids Alfred. Knowing he'd deny his order to go back down, but hopes he'll understand. He gets his suit back on, and he has some trouble doing so. But he works through the pain. He manages to get it back on and speeds his way to the HQ, following the recent coordinates. Even through the pain, speeding on his cycle makes him smile. The wind racing through his hair. His face. Reminds him of why he does what he does. For the thrill.

As he approaches the HQ, he sees a door knocked down and imagines Bruce did that. "Very subtle, Bruce." Dick mutters.

But he then feels dread as he sees the bodies lined around the base. Oh my God. Dick thinks. Then he sees a much bigger body on the floor. Bane. Dick turns on his detective mode and sees he's still breathing. Wary to ask Bruce how he managed to knock him down, and he hopes he won't need to himself. He looks around for Catwoman and sees her in a vault. He rushes towards the vault, and only after being closer to it does he realize Bane broke it. He won't be able to use the wheel to open the door, but he can probably use a torch if he can find one around.

He finds a cutter, and as he does, the beast begins to wake from his sleep. Dick has a moment of pause as he looks at him rising. Little does Dick know, Bane's venom has worn off. Leaving him vulnerable. Bruce is watching Dick's feed, and sees Bane is struggling to stand to his feet. "You seein' this?" Dick whispers to Bruce via comms.

"I am." Bruce responds, weakly.

Dick snaps back to his senses as he grabs the Plasma Cutter and heads to the vault. As he does, he hears Bane speak through some comms to tell some of his men to blow up the building. "Bruce." Dick informs.

"Alfred says Barbara's already on her way." Bruce assures.

Dick assumes Alfred contacted Barbara beforehand. Bane goes to his office to get another mask to cover his face since his other one got blown up. Though oblivious to the fact that someone is here to release his prisoner, he assumes all is fine. But as he hears the cutter, he turns to the sound and sees Nightwing. He sneers as he goes into his office to grab another mask, and a temporary, quick-fuel venom supply syringe into his arm. He roars as he feels the power surge through him, and Dick mutters. "Crap."

He grips his torch tighter in impatience. "Cut faster!"

Bane leaps from the ledge and lands with a thud, rushing towards Nightwing. "C'mon!" Dick shouts.

Luckily, his suit provides some protection from the sparks, but Dick had to equip a helmet. He's made some progress, and on the other side, Selina sees a light cutting through the vault. Her hopes begin to lighten a bit, but then she remembers big bad is still here. Bane is getting closer and closer, and Dick can only cut so fast.

Dick knows he's gonna have a hard time taking on Bane, so the only option he has is to get him to hit the vault himself, and break it open. But he's moving too fast for Dick to react. Even his charge is fast. Dick could use his staff to deliver a significant charge against Bane, but of course, his staff prevents such lethal action. I should've stayed in Blüdhaven, Dick thinks.

But regardless of the electrical capacity, Dick turns off the torch and connects his sticks to a staff. He cracks up the voltage and hits Bane as hard as he can, thinking the combined surge through the two batons would be enough. He whacks him in the jaw and Dick thinks he hears a grunt of pain. Almost audible. Dick doesn't stop hitting him, but he keeps an eye on him. His chest aches with pain after fighting Croc, though Batman taught him to fight through pain. And after a couple of hits with the staff, Bane grabs it and throws Dick halfway across the room. Bane now has the staff and as he's about to break it, an electrical surge runs through the beast's veins. The staff is for Dick to use, and members of the Batfamily. Anyone else who uses it gets a terrible shock.

Bane feels the shock, but it doesn't stop him. He snaps the staff against his knee, and tosses the Batons aside. He charges towards Nightwing again, and Dick is without his weapons. He feels more pain, being tossed around like that. But he's not stopping either.

He has to use his speed and agility to his advantage, and he does, although not augmented. Dick watches him closely. He's faster than he thought. He gets some close calls. Closer than comfort. He swings at his leg, jabbing him. Delivering quick attacks when he has an opening. It doesn't last very long as Bane gets a hit off. In the chest. Dick is smashed into the ground, worsening his wounds. Dick cries out in anguish.

Bane almost lands another pummeling strike, but Dick rolls out the way. He has yet to have made a single strike that really hurts him. Other than the staff discharging. He stands to his feet, weakly. He stands his ground, and he leaps away from him when Bane jumps towards him. Bane is breaking the surface, and the ground beneath that. Dick gets a smoke pellet and throws it onto the ground, disorientating him. He can't fight him like this. Or even without his injuries.

He hopes to have bought himself some time, and he rushes back towards the vault, though not at his best speed. He gets the torch and gets back to cutting open the vault. The sound will attract him back again, and Dick will have to evade him once more. If he does come, Dick wonders if the torch will work. Or if it's too dangerous. But then again, Dick's sure he can use it on him. He's almost there, and Bane is about to deliver what might be a killing blow, and Dick turns around and uses the torch on the behemoth. It starts to cut his leather jacket, covering his vest. With tubes of venom. He cuts a tube, and green juice spews out.

Bane cups the tube, groaning in pain as his Venom drips out, weakening him. He gets on his knees, barely able to stand. Dick watches in amazement. "Not so tough now, are ya?" Dick quips, as he kicks Bane down the stairs.

He kicks him as hard as he can to make it count. Dick smiles, panting heavily. Breathing a sigh of relief. He then gets back to opening the vault, and as he opens it finally, Selina stands to her feet and sighs with relief. "I thought I'd never say this, but I hate vaults." Selina complains.

She steps out of the vault, and stretches, groaning in pain and satisfaction as her body finally gets to function properly. She sees Bane, lying on the floor. She then feels a surge of anger rush through her and she snatches the torch from Dick's hands, and walks towards the fallen behemoth. Dick holds her back, saying that he doesn't condone killing. Selina tries to fight him off, but it's no use. "That son of a bitch locked me in there. I'm going to make him pay!" Selina barks back. "As bait for Batman." She then adds, frustrated.

Selina tries to calm down and tosses the torch aside. "One day.." she mutters.

"Let's get you out of here." Dick commands.

"Finally." Selina sighs. "Take me to my house."

As Dick escorts her out of the building, he keeps eye contact on her. Making sure she doesn't lose her. Dick then takes a pouch from his utility belt and scoops up some of the Venom that drained out. "That stuff was in him?" Selina questions, sickened.

"Yeah. It's not pretty." Dick answers.

Selina and Dick get on the motorcycle and then he asks Bruce if he can call for police. "I don't want them in harm's way until we know what we're up against, and we'll start by examining that fluid." Bruce replies.

"Understood." Dick adds.

Selina wraps her arms around her hero and he grimaces, still feeling the wounds. "Oh, sorry." Selina apologizes.

"It's fine." Dick assures. "Just, be careful." He adds.

As Selina tells him where to go, she finally leaves her hellhole behind, planning a hell of her own for her captor.


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

Bruce is watching the feed from Dick and Barbara, seeing how they're handling their current situations, and glad they made it out alive. Though, he feels remorse that he couldn't kill Bane's men, and Bane, himself. Knowing neither Dick nor Barbara would have done the deed. However, in an unexpected move, he sees that Babs left someone to die in a fire. Bruce saw that it was unavoidable, but if the cops are safe, and one of Bane's men is dead, that's all that matters.

And upon seeing Dick's footage, Bruce is relieved seeing that Bane has a weakness, but not sure what to make of it yet.

Bruce doesn't see anything of merit from Dick after rescuing Catwoman, but he does from Barbara. New commissioner. Gordon missing. Sharp. Bruce is unnerved. Upset. But a turn of events makes Bruce cautiously optimistic. The commissioner wanting to call for more strict laws. Putting criminals on death row for heinous crimes. People like the Joker. He feels no remorse for Firefly or Zsaaz, but he does feel sorry for Harvey, even still. Only half of him, though, is thankful that he can't hurt anyone else again. And it feels like that half is growing stronger by the day.

Alfred comes down with some food and sees Bruce at the computer again. "I tried looking for you earlier upstairs, but of course, I should've known better." He remarks, nonchalantly.

Alfred puts a tray next to the computer, and sees the feed. The names on top of each screen. When he sees Dick, he scoffs. "What did you make him do?"

"Get Selina out of harm's way." Bruce responds, dryly.

"He could've died!"

"He knew what he was doing."

"And we both know how cocky he is."

Bruce sees another screen pop up. Someone is attempting to enter the Manor. He pulls up the security feed and sees a woman. Middle Eastern. Stoic. Flawless complexion. And eyes like daggers. "You didn't go on a dating site, did you?" Alfred asks.

"No."

Bruce opens the gate and she walks in. "I'll go check it out." Bruce demands as he gets up from the chair, slowly. Still in pain. With Alfred's help, he dresses for company. He still hasn't taken off the lower part of his Batsuit.

As Bruce gets back to the surface level, he meets up with the strange lady. Her movements are fluid. Even for simply walking. Bruce walks up to her and extends a hand for a handshake, and the woman denies it. "I'm not here for a welcoming, Mister Wayne."

Her eyes piercing into Bruce's. He lets his hand rest at his side, and then he asks her. "What did you come here for?"

"A proposal. From Ra's Al Ghul."

At the mention of his name, Bruce's eyes turn into daggers now, too. _She must be a spy of Ra's_. He thinks. "What does he want?"

"Your friend is dead. We can bring him back."

Bruce is curious, but not enough to accept the offer. "I don't want anything to do with him."

"Aren't you a little curious?" The woman asks, almost reading his mind.

Bruce steels himself. "For all we know, he could be lying."

"But you miss him, don't you?"

Bruce knows how Ra's works. How his guard works. "I do, but I rather have him dead, than whatever he has planned."

Bruce crosses his arms in defiance. The woman smirks. "He told me you would be stubborn."

The woman looks into his eyes, deeper now. "But what about Talia?"

Bruce's composure drops for a moment. His stern complexion turns into something else now. His eyes widen. "You remember her, don't you?"

The woman walks closer towards him. "She remembers you, too."

She is more than arm's reach near him now. "She misses you."

Bruce reasserts himself, but he knows his guard's been dropped already. "I can see you miss her, too." The woman whispers.

"I don't want anything to do with Ra's." Bruce reaffirms.

"You can't hide it, Bruce." The woman smiles. "If not for Ra's, do it for Talia."

Bruce loosens up for a bit. Thinking about how he could kill Ra's. Even if he could, it'd be difficult. Though it seems easy for Bruce to contemplate murder, and how willing he is, there's still a part of him that feels guilty. "What does Ra's have to offer?" Bruce asks, still hesitant.

"A Lazarus Pit. It can bring the dead to life. It can cure disease. You are reborn." The woman continues, smiling.

"There has to be a catch." Bruce replies, not sold on the offer yet.

"There is none."

The woman makes it sound so enticing, but Bruce will have an agenda of his own. However? bringing back Jason could be a plus. Bruce doesn't know how true this all is, and there's only one way to find out. "Tell Ra's I'll be there."

"Good." The woman smiles back. "We'll be expecting you."

She steps away from Bruce, and out of the Manor. Bruce comes back down to the Batcave and changes into his Batsuit again. "You're going back there again?"

"Yes," Bruce answers as he puts the cowl back on. "And I'm going to need something first."

Batman walks to his Batmobile and finishes. "I'm going to need a body."

"But sir!" Alfred tries to stop him. "Your reputation with the GCPD and the public is already tainted. If you're going to take a body from the GCPD, I hope you understand what will come from this."

"That doesn't matter." Batman replies back.

"And I'm afraid of what you will do at Nanba Parbat again. What will happen to you." Alfred adds, worried.

Batman ignores him as he leaves in the Batmobile. Alfred stands in the empty expanse. His mind in a hundred different places. "Bruce.." Alfred whispers, hoping for him to answer back. Still holding onto the memory of Bruce as an innocent little boy.

" _Bruce_.." Alfred whispers again, quieter. Knowing he won't answer back. Talking to dead air. "I've failed you."


	33. Chapter Thirty-Three

Batman drives to the GCPD Morgue, and is still in great pain. Breathing expands his rib cage, pressing it against his body. He grunts as the pain continues, but keeps his eye on the goal. He then remembers about his supposed plan to kill Ra's, and thinks about how much more pain he'll be in. But in his mind, it'll be worth it. 

As Batman is nearing the precinct, he sees the Batsignal covered under a tarp. He makes a note to check it out later. As he arrives at the precinct, the gate is closed to entry. An officer stands in the way of the gate, holding his hand out to signal Batman to stop. Batman starts to slow down and the officer walks up towards his car. The crusader rolls down his window and asks, "What's the problem?" He asks in a displeased voice.

"I can't let you in, Batman. Sharp says he don't want you around here anymore. Says it leaves a bad rep." 

Batman is now even more displeased. Now feeling betrayed. The officer is upset as well, but orders are orders. "What's with the Batsignal?" Batman asks. 

"Sharp wanted—" he stops. Afraid to finish. He tries to steel himself as he delivers the news. "H—He wanted us to...dismantle—"

The officer has to stop again, but Batman pieces together the puzzle. He clenches his steering wheel like a vice, and the officer stops now. He thinks Batman knows now. Now he's more afraid. "Open the gate." Batman demands, coldly.  
"I wish I could, but I need this job." 

Batman repeats in an angrier tone, and the officer gives in and opens the gate, closing it behind him. The crusader then drives to the Morgue as officers around him are worried about the effect of this. 

The Dark Knight gets out of his Batmobile and walks up to his point of interest, and knocks on the door. Philip opens the door and is shocked to see Batman. "Batman? What are you doing here?" Philip asks.

"I'm here for a body." Batman replies.

"Why?" Philip asks again as the crusader just walks in.

"I need to examine it. This one is important." Batman responds, broken up still about Jason's death. 

"Oh, well, take it." Philip answers back, sympathetic about the decision. "It's this one." He points to the door that holds Jason's body. "You're not going to stop me?" Batman interrogates.

"Why would I stop you?" Philip assures. 

Batman opens the door and sees the body. The stench is rancid. And the sight of him is even worse. His charred body. The branded Batsymbols all over. "Who is this?" Philip asks, cautiously.

Batman takes a moment to answer. "Someone I failed." 

"My condolences." Philip tries to comfort him, but it's not enough. Batman takes the body and on his way out, Philip asks, worried. "What will the people think about you taking a body from the Morgue?" 

Batman stops for a moment as he collects his thoughts, then gives his answer. "What matters is keeping them safe." 

He then goes on his way and puts the body in the back of his car, and drives to a Backup Batcave nearby to park his car, and calls the Batwing to take him to Nanba Parbat. Even in the Batwing, it's still a long ways away. Working through his pain is wearing him out, but he can't afford to rest. Not yet. "You better be telling the truth, Ra's." He mumbles to himself. 

Hours of seeing the clouds and sky speed past him, and he finally reaches his point of interest. However, he parks the Batwing away from the temple to avoid ground attack. Usually intended to ward off intruders. Batman exits his jet with the body in hand, weighing him down a bit, but he trudges along. 

He pulls his mask up since the people here know who he is, and there's no sense in hiding it. He walks up the towering steps to the temple, and through steel determination, he makes it to the top. His eyes are getting heavy, and his muscles weak. He sees assassins guarding the entrance to the temple, and Bruce's appearance makes them eager to kill him. "You betrayed the great Ra's Al Ghul!" One of them shouts, but even though they seem ready to slice him to pieces, they restrain themselves. They have their hands on their swords, but Bruce simply demands, "Show me where Ra's and his Lazarus Pit is." 

The assassins unclench their hilts, and open the door. The two assassins escort him to Ra's while Bruce starts to limp along. The pain now shooting through his body is unbearable. His eyes getting heavier, but he keeps going. Determined to at least give Jason another chance at life, even if his stops here. 

His steps slower as he gets closer, and as the assassins reach Ra's's quartets, Bruce notices that there's been some redecorating. Like someone plowed their way in here. Or out. Uneven pieces taped to walls. Bruce stands straight now in the presence of Ra's, as a means of reasserting himself. He then sees Talia, and his pain to this point is almost worth it. Still beautiful as ever. They lock eyes and a heat sparks between them. But it's then interrupted. "Detective." Ra's comments.

"The Pit." Bruce commands. 

Ra's cracks a smile as he leans forward from his throne. ""Yes." Ra's adds, excited to see the results. Talia is concerned. "Wait, Bruce!" Talia shouts, trying to stop him from making a terrible mistake. 

Ra's tilts his head to a nearby guard and he stops Talia. Ra's then stands to his feet and motions to his men to work the chains and pull up the pit from the below the ground. Bruce doesn't trust anything good from this, especially with Talia's disapproval. Bruce holds Jason in his arms as he hands it over when Ra's comes towards him. He watches as Ra's unloads the body into the green, foul smelling liquid. Ra's steps back and starts chanting. The other men start chanting with him. Talia's face shows terror. She shakes her head in disapproval, looking at Bruce. 

Bruce knew something would go wrong, but he wasn't sure what to expect. The chants get louder as bubbles start to form over the liquid. Bruce steps back for a bit, anticipating something. Then something does happen as Jason leaps out of the pit and onto Bruce. He begins to pummel at his face aggressively. "YOU LET HIM LIVE!" Jason shouts, angrily. 

Bruce's face is smashed in and Jason keeps shouting. "YOU DIDN'T KILL JOKER!" 

Bruce is too weak to fight back, and finally the guards get a savage Jason off of him, trying to restrain him. Bruce tries to stand, but can barely manage. Talia shoves the guard off of her and she rushes to Bruce's aid. Ra's looks rather amused at the results. When Bruce is able to stand on his own, he looks at Ra's in absolute disdain. He knew there would be something that Ra's would have under his sleeve. Jason starts to calm down now. But Bruce is starting to heat up. "Now, your friend is back." Ra's comments, halfheartedly. 

With the strength he can muster, Bruce hits Ra's across the jaw. The guards hold him back now, and Bruce is trying to fight back, but to no avail. "You don't seem pleased." Ra's says, almost mocking him. 

He chuckles as Talia gets the guards off of Bruce, trying to comfort him. "I'm sorry, my beloved." 

Bruce looks at Ra's, pleased. And with rage building up inside him, he thinks of the only thing to do. Something necessary. He takes a sword from a nearby guard, and readies himself for a fight.


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Ra's assumes Bruce is going to kill him, but he doesn't expect it. His stoic, intimidating composure has yet to break, even still. But it appears he lets his guard down for just a moment. "So, you've come to secede me?" Ra's asks, almost thrilled at the prospect.

"No, I'm here to stop you." Bruce corrects him bluntly.

He grips the hilt of the sword with great ferocity, and Ra's cracks a bit of a smile. "Then by all means," he slides back his robe and unveils a sword, lodging the blade into the ground in front of him. "do as you wish."

Talia stands by Bruce, not saying a word. Obviously annoyed of her father at this point, and has waited for him to die for years. Bruce looks at his sword, seriously considering the offer. Going through with his plan. Thinking of how Ra's betrayed his trust when he once saw him as a father figure. He looks back at Ra's now, and then the sword. "If you die, you'll just come back." Bruce remarks, coldly.

"No, detective. I will be dead and you, will secede me." Ra's clarifies.

"Do it." Talia commands, directed at Bruce.

Bruce hands the sword back to the assassin he took it from, and walks up to Ra's. He puts his hand on the hilt of the sword, and as he's about to remove it from it's spot, Jason mutters. "Bruce?"

He appears to be coming to now. He looks at him and sees a beaten, bruised Batman. He then sees he's grabbing the sword, and is ready to strike down Ra's Al Ghul. "What—-what's happening?" Jason asks.

"Now's not the time, Jason." Bruce affirms, strongly.

Bruce holds the sword in his hand, and as he does, he looks at Jason. Jason's consciousness returns and he sees Bruce with the blade. They look at each other in the eyes, both conflicted. "Bruce?" Jason asks, hesitantly.

Bruce looks at his sword, not having second thoughts. "What are you waiting for?" Ra's asks.

Ra's is not pleased with the turn of events. Bruce steels himself as he has to make the decision. With one strong swing, he jabs the sword back into the ground, stepping away. Ra's is furious now.

Jason stands to his feet without the guard's help, and he asks Bruce. "Who is this guy?"

"Ra's Al Ghul. The most dangerous man alive." Bruce answers, bluntly.

"Then finish me!" Ra's growls as he hands the sword back to Bruce.

Bruce looks at the sword, denying the offer. Too hard to do in front of Jason. Ra's has the hilt facing Bruce, making it easier to take. Ra's, however, is holding the blade. "Not with him." Bruce strikes back.

Ra's turns around and sees Jason. He then looks back to Bruce, frustrated. But keeping his composure. "What are you waiting for?!" Jason shouts back.

Ra's holds the blade tighter now as blood seeps from out his hands. "You were so eager before." Ra's now puts his hand back on the hilt when Bruce is unwilling to take the blade,

"Bruce, what are you doing?" Talia barks back.

Ra's looks at Jason again, and remarks to Bruce, "Perhaps you need persuasion."

He walks towards Jason, not in the state to fight, not is he trained for it, and Ra's gets ready to chop him in half. Bruce gets out a Batarang as fast as he can and throws at Ra's sword arm. He drops the sword and Bruce gets ready to fight. "Finish me, Ra's! Not him!"

Ra's takes the Batarang out of his arm, and he turns around back to Bruce. "You had your chance! Now, you will fight for it!" Ra's shouts as he takes his sword back and rushes towards Bruce.

Bruce knows this is going to be a hell of a fight, and it won't end with him walking away, especially in his state. Bruce steels himself and he attempts to counter the lunge, but he doesn't move fast enough. Ra's slices Bruce's cheek, and Bruce puts his gauntlets up, blocking any attacks with the blade. He tries to lock the blade in his gauntlets, and with the strength he has left, he then breaks the sword.

Bruce head butts Ra's and his attack is countered by a fist in the abdomen. Bruce is knocked back, and Ra's takes a blade fragment and uses that to fight back. Bruce isn't at his 100%, and he isn't making the right moves. The blood on his cheek drips down to the side of his lip, and down to the floor. Bruce wipes the blood away and keeps his fists locked. Ra's delivers a series of attacks with his blade, mixing him up, and Bruce keeps up the best he can, despite some mess ups.

Ra's is faster and stronger than Bruce now, and easily overpowers him. Bruce ends up on the floor, beaten and stabbed. His eyes are getting heavy again, and his body is getting weaker. Earlier, Bruce told Jason to stay away from Ra's. To not come near him. But Jason comes anyway, and he sucked punches Ra's across the jaw.

He strikes hard and fast, and Ra's counters almost everything. Unfortunately, Jason is soon taken down and Bruce takes a Batarang and stabs Ra's in his other arm holding the blade. He then gets another Batarang and jabs Ra's in the other arm.

He takes the Batarangs back out and dodged further attacks before being knocked down again. His body is ready to give in now, but the crusader refuses, despite Ra's constant and painful beat downs. The Dark Knight gets his Batarangs back in hand and he jams one into Ra's shoulder. The Demon's arm is disabled, and the crusader attempts to go for the next one now. Only to have this arm, too, disabled. But in Bruce's case, dislocated.

Ra's then brings his elbow down on Bruce's elbow, hearing a crack as his arm strikes the bone. Bruce falls to the floor in defeat, coughing up blood, as blood drops down from his body too. Ra's motions to one of the guards and they toss him a sword.

As he raises his sword to finish him off, Jason acts fast and steals another guard's sword and rushes towards Ra's. He knocks the guard's away as fast as he can, but not efficiently. He comes up behind Ra's and gets ready to strike, but the commotion in the room has escalated. Ra's turns to strike down Jason, but the hero fights back. He gets an open shot and slits Ra's throat with the sword. Blood spews out and Ra's face is flushed with shock before the life in his eyes fades out. Jason breathes heavily, thankful he made the right move.

Ra's falls to the ground in defeat, and Jason jams the sword into the ground near the fallen demon. He now gets on his hands and knees, trying to calm down. Bruce breathes a sigh of relief, and as everything calms down, Talia too, breathes a little easier. "He was a vile monster." Talia comments.

Jason looks at Bruce, expecting to be yelled at for killing someone. But he isn't. Talia helps Bruce up and takes him to another room to patch up her beloved. Jason follows behind her, to make sure she's not any trouble. Luckily for Jason, it doesn't seem like she will be.

But on the way, the guards start to kneel and proclaim Jason as the new Head of the Demon. The three stop in their tracks and Talia tells everyone to stop for just a moment.

They go into the room and Talia closes the door behind her. She lays Bruce on the bed carefully, and Jason watches. "Jesus. I've never seen you like this." Jason adds, concerned.

Talia reaches her hand into a jar of liquid, and proceeds to rub Bruce's chest to alleviate the pain. "What the hell happened to you?" She asks Bruce. Hurt in her voice.

Bruce opens his mouth, trying to speak. Talia sees the struggle and shakes her head. "Never mind."

Despite her saying Bruce should relax, he still tries. "B-" Bruce starts, muttering. Finally, he gets the full work out. "Bane."

As he says it, it's like a chill fills the air. And only Talia knows why.


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five

Talia's eyes widen in shock. Bruce looks at her in confusion. "Him?" Talia asks.

"What do you know about him?" Bruce asks.

Talia takes a deep breath to answer. "That he was a man in pain. He was searching the world for answers for his anger. All his life he said he was raised in hell, and that it followed him everywhere. He carried a burden of hate deep in his heart."

Jason shakes his head in disapproval. Not feeling sympathy. Talia gets more healing water and starts bringing Bruce back to health as she continues. "One day, we found him at the foot of our temple. Barely breathing. My guards and I didn't know whether to kill him, or to bring him in. Ultimately, Ra's made the decision to bring him in. In his mind, he saw the outside world as cruel and undeserving of mercy, and he brought him in to have him suffer a little longer."

Talia stops for a moment to continue. To collect her thoughts. "Bane told us he was only looking for peace, but he didn't find it here."

Talia takes another deep breath as she continues. Her body tense. "As days went on, Ra's had him tormented. He gave him the smallest portions of food and water. Barely enough to live on. And one day, Bane had enough. He brutalized his tormentors and caught Ra's attention with his actions. Ra's then reconsidered his initial plan of torturing Bane, and turned his attention to training him. Thinking he'd be a useful tool."

As Talia speaks, she continues nursing Bruce back to health. "Ra's then had him brought back to health. He gave him everything. Then, he started training him. Bane was willing to go through with it as Ra's promised him he'll learn the answers he needs upon finishing the trials. Through the years to come, Bane would fight relentlessly. Exhausted, but fueled by rage. But not always cooperating. One day, he snapped."

Talia gets more healing water to soothe Bruce's shoulder, but easing the other one first. The dislocated one was too painful, even to the touch. Talia starts pressing down a little too hard now, thinking aback. "Bane challenged him to a duel in the middle of training, and he almost killed him with his sword. Ra's easily bested him and would've killed him on the spot, but he refused. And after all his training over the years, one wrong move, and he's back to the beginning."

Bruce sighs in frustration. "I remember that."

"We all do." Talia replies.

Talia softens her grip now. Trying not to hurt Bruce. "Hey, if you're gonna keep massaging him, I'm gonna be in the other room." Jason remarks.

Jason walks out and sees all the guards bowing to him. "Get a new hobby." Jason remarks as he makes his way elsewhere. He feels the urge to go out and kill them all for supporting Ra's, but he knows he'd be slaughtered in seconds.

As Bruce and Talia are now alone, Talia starts to glide her hands along Bruce's body. "Alone. At last." Talia exclaims, lovingly.

Bruce holds her hand as they look deeply into each other's eyes. Talia rubs her thumb along the side of Bruce's hand. Her hands are soft, hard to imagine they are used to kill people.

Talia rests her hand on Bruce's chest, feeling his heartbeat. Talia goes in for a passionate, powerful kiss, and as their lips meet, Talia hovers her over Bruce's, teasing him. She stays there for a while, breathing heavily, as the two feel the electricity surging through them. Numbing Bruce's pain for just a bit. Talia finally goes in for a full-on kiss, and immediately after, she hovers her lips over his once again to break the moment. "When did you change?"

Bruce is still in his dream state, and Talia repeats herself to snap him back to his senses. "When did you change?"

Bruce comes to, and he then asks her. "In what way?"

"You wanting to kill Ra's." Talia answers back.

Bruce's pain comes back as the ecstasy fades away. He mumbles out the answer. "Gotham changed."

Talia stops for a moment to think about his words. "People got smarter. More dangerous. Others stopped believing.."

Bruce stops for a second, trying to gather the strength to finish his sentence. After a few seconds when he doesn't respond, Talia asks him gently, "In what?"

Bruce finally musters out the words. "In hope."

Talia feels a slight pang of guilt, but her overall reaction is in approval to him. "Then you're learning." Talia remarks. Halfheartedly.

Bruce closes his eyes, hoping to be somewhere else. "I don't want to."

He opens his eyes, and sees he's still where he was before. It's not a dream. It's real. Talia shakes her head in disapproval, and as she's about to leave, Bruce takes her hand as she goes. "Stay."

Talia looks down at Bruce. Contemplating her options. But seeing his beaten body and how he's changed, underneath, she still feels something. Even after doing this back and forth for so long. Bruce seems sincere, and Talia finally obliges. Normally it would be the other way for them, but a lot has changed.

Talia sits back into her chair and leans in for a kiss. Her crimson lips rubbing against Bruce's. As the romance continues, Talia and Bruce begin to get more intimate. At this point, Bruce would peel back, but it's almost like he's enjoying himself for the first time in forever.

Bruce may be in pain, but nothing else matters. Bruce strokes her hair and caresses her face, cherishing every strand of hair and every inch of skin. Talia then takes off the top half of her assassin uniform, tossing it on the floor haphazardly. She then rips open Bruce's suit from the top as they caress each other's bodies. Talia gets on top as she continues the affair.

Bruce is in pain as her body lies on top of his, but it only makes him work harder. Talia runs her hands through Bruce's body. Hard and bruised. Whereas Talia's is beautiful, save for a few scars.

Bruce grips her body with a iron grip, relishing the moment. The beauty. Bruce kisses her neck, intimately. Talia smiles as he kisses her, giving in to Bruce completely now. Remembering how she missed this. And she can tell how Bruce did too. Time stops in this moment, and both their pain, within and outside, fades.

Bruce slides his hands down Talia's back, feeling the way her body moves against his. Feeling every slow, methodical movement.

After what feels like no time at all, Bruce and Talia have finally fulfilled their fantasy. As Talia rests beside Bruce, caressing him, he doesn't want to leave. But he knows he has to. During the night, he gets up and wakes up Talia gently, telling her that he has to leave. Talia gives him another kiss, urging him to stay. Bruce returns the favor and whispers back. "I'm sorry Talia." His voice cracks. "I'll be back someday."

"Stay." Talia repeats.

"Talia," Bruce gently deflects her.

Talia lets her guard down and gives in. Sighing heavily. "Remember me." Talia demands, softly but firmly.

"I do." Bruce answers back, confident to take her on her word. Even if it'll be the last one. Or the first.

Bruce then walks out the door, and continues his trek back to the jet.


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six

Jason stands outside for some fresh air, still not believing he's alive. Fear in his eyes. But still the same rage. Right now, he's afraid. Jason is wrestling with his demons as they return to the surface. He feels the air against his skin. A chilling breeze. He's not used to this feeling. He feels like he has a second chance. At killing the Joker. And being a better person. But he isn't so sure about what to do right now.

Minutes later, Bruce comes by with his arm in a cast made from his cape, with help from Talia. "Let's go." Bruce commands as they head back to the jet, thankful he won't have to carry him this time.

They don't talk during the trek, and after they get seated in and take off, Bruce sets the jet on auto pilot back to the main Batcave. Finally, Bruce says something that's been gnawing at him since it happened. "What was it like coming back?" Bruce asks Jason. Filled with questions.

Jason is quiet for a moment, which is a first. "It was surreal. Like I wasn't in control of myself." Jason says, recounting the miraculous, supernatural event.

Bruce has never heard Jason talk like this. "Everything just felt…so bizarre. I heard someone screaming. I didn't know who I was.. where I was… what was happening…"

Jason looks out the window, still collecting his thoughts. "I only remember bits and pieces."

Jason takes a deep breath, wracking his brain trying to remember everything else. "What'd I do?"

"You jumped out of the pit and started attacking me. You were shouting about how I didn't kill the Joker."

"Oh." Jason says bluntly. "That son of a bitch." He then finishes, coldly.

Bruce then tries to apologize. Sincerely. "I'm sorry, Jason."

Jason doesn't answer back. Deep down, he still has the rage. "I've told you about why I never killed him." Bruce reiterates.

"Because of your damn rule, right?" Jason says bluntly.

"Because he can't feel pain."

Jason turns to Bruce. Slightly baffled. "I couldn't subject him to the pain he's caused if he's always laughing."

Bruce feels anger boiling up inside as he takes a moment to reassert himself. "I was a fool. I thought I could save him. But he's not the person I save. He's the kind of person that should've died a long time ago."

Grief coupled with his anger overwhelms Bruce as he remembers holding Jason's body after the explosion. "But no matter what I could do. What anyone could've done. Wouldn't have meant a damn thing." Bruce says, riddled with all kinds of emotions. "If no one could hurt him." He finally finishes.

He notices he has his hand in a fist. He relaxes his hand and looks up at Jason. "I'm sorry."

Jason knows he's sincere, but he still doesn't know whether to trust him yet. He looks back out the window and Bruce turns his attention back to the dark night sky. Upset at himself even more now. He almost doesn't know what to do with himself. Wishing he hadn't left. And at that moment, something snaps.

He then gets some text messages from Gordon. "We need to talk."

"Meet me at the pier."

"I'm not anywhere near Gotham at the moment." Bruce replies.

Seconds later, Gordon texts back. "The city is being militarized."

Bruce is then struck with a bombshell. "What are you talking about?"

"We can talk in depth later. I've been laying low."

In the news he just received, he turns on the jet's turbo and speeds his way back to Gotham. "What are we in a hurry for?" Jason asks.

Bruce doesn't answer as he pulls his mask back down. Not feeling up for conversation right now. The clouds speed by and the sound of the turbo is powerful. Almost invigorating. An hour or so later, Bruce reaches Gotham airspace again, and as he descends from the clouds, he sees missiles coming his way. He jerks the jet out of the way with one hand as best he can. He peeks into his rear view mirror and sees them following him. "Hold on Jason!" Bruce shouts. "They're heat sinking missiles!"

Jason buckles himself up and holds onto the armrests. Bruce turns off the auto pilot and activates the evasive maneuvers as he turns on the Batwing's defenses to fight back.

He was looking down to focus on the controls, and as he looks up, he sees another missile. The jet dodges out of the way, almost hitting a nearby building. Bruce is then met with anti-air defenses mounted on top of buildings, like with the missile launchers. "Holy crap!" Jason shouts as the flak cannons start pelting the jet.

The jet does multiple flips and turns to try and evade the projectiles and the missiles. He then activates a mounted gun to take out the missiles, pelting at air and windows nearby without the auto-lock on. Bruce isn't in the position to patrol the jet to navigate the auto-lock. He then makes a mental note to implement an auto-target lock.

The flak cannons bombard the jet, and the armor plating is strong enough to withstand it, but not for long. Bruce then launches the missiles back at the cannons, trying to steer with one hand and target the structure. The explosion is a little more volatile than expected, damaging the roof of the building. Another flak cannon is still active, and eventually it starts to penetrate the cockpit of the jet. Glass falls down and flies out with the flips.

Bruce veers into a flak cannon, attempting to ram it. Before striking it, he makes a hard left and a missile strikes it instead. The machine gun on the jet takes out another missile now. More missiles spew out and the launchers and flak cannons are few in numbers right now. Two more cannons and the launches still remain. "Still got the launchers!" Jason shouts.

Bruce was about to fire a missile, but he then remembers that the missile launches could cause a destructive blowback from the missiles inside it, leveling half the buildings they're mounted on. The jet begins to suffer substantial damage from the flak cannons, and the missiles keep coming. It starts to get overwhelming and Bruce is still trying to fight back. "Bruce!" Jason shouts back as the jet begins to suffer damage.

"Get ready to eject!" Bruce commands as he positions the jet to make an emergency landing on the pavement. Before the jet impacts the ground, Bruce and Jason eject out of the Batwing and roll across the pavement. The jet and the duo land, Batman speaks into his gauntlet to self-destruct the Batwing as a safety mechanism. Instead of exploding, the technology shuts down and shorts out.

Bruce and Jason look around, seeing Bane thugs atop buildings and Penguin thugs on the ground. Some smoking cigars, and some still with faded Two-Face paint under their Penguin masks.

Some start chuckling, and Jason and Bruce get ready for a fight. But Bruce knows this is more than a fight now. This is War.


	37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Dick and Barbara have been deployed earlier after reports of the city being militarized, and started scouting out the city. They saw men in military uniforms and anti-air structures. Alfred relays Batman's location to them, and upon finding him and Jason, much to their disbelief that a deadman walks again. They were so sure Jason was dead. But what else catches their attention the most is that Batman is practically brutalizing Penguin thugs. "Oh my God." Batgirl mutters under her breath. 

Dick shakes his head in disgust and tries to shrug it off to leap down to assist Bruce and Jason, and shortly, too, does Barbara. "Got your hand full?" Nightwing quirks. 

Dick and Barbara try to not focus on Jason, and turn their attention to the thugs. They know Bruce and Jason can handle this, but they wanted to lend a hand anyways. Jason is a little rusty, though still, he's still as violent as before. Bruce, however, even with one hand, is cracking skulls and breaking bones. But brutally. He knocks a thug down and holds their arm up, and as they're on the ground, he knee drops his shoulder, dislocating his shoulder and cracking bones. The man cries out in pain, and Batman knee drops him again in the face, busting his nose as blood flows out. 

Another thug comes up from behind him, and he elbows them in the abdomen. As he hunches over, the caped crusader headbutts him and then kicks him in the knee. The thug falls down on one knee, and Batman punches him in the face twice and then positions his head to snap his neck. Following this, another thug tries to attack him, and he blocks another hit as he swipes at their throat with the blades in his gauntlet. Slitting it open as blood spews out. Jason sees this and he's almost proud of Bruce.

Dick and Barbara try to hold him back, and instead of letting them restrain him, he pushes them off and he keeps going. Jason ignores them, and Dick doesn't give up, still trying to hold back Bruce. Barbara tries to help out, and now the thugs have a newfound fear for Batman. A primal rage and brutality. They start to run away now. Batman headbutts Dick and gets him off of him. Dick rubs his face as he massages the impact wound. Barbara, and even Jason, are shocked. Startled. "What the hell?" Dick shouts back as he tries to collect himself.

"I had this under control." Bruce snarls, not facing Dick. 

Dick shoves him, shouting. "You're out of control!" 

Batman scowls. His eyes piercing into his soul. Dick stands his ground and he scowls back. "And you're in my way." Batman responds coldly. 

Dick's composure waivers. Almost emotional now. Barbara doesn't know how to react, aside from speechless. Conflicted. "Bruce…" Jason mutters under his breath. Perplexed. 

Moments later after a dead, chilling silence, Batman issues a demand. "Go back to Bludhaven." 

Dick's stoic composure was so strong before, but begins to show the cracks in the surface, and a broken heart can be found underneath. "Bruce, what are you doing?" Barbara retorts, not wanting to stand idly by. 

Dick reasserts himself as he barks back to Bruce. "Fine. I will." He then channels his anger and his heartbreak. His voice cracks halfway through. "And you can go to Hell." 

Dick then walks away and he grapples away. Barbara follows behind him, trying to salvage the situation, or comfort him at least. Batman turns around and sees Jason, afraid too. "What are you doing?" Jason asks.

"What I need to do." Bruce answers back, bluntly. "You can understand." 

Bruce then calls the Batmobile to his location for Jason, and he stands there as he watches him grapple away, standing alone. Concerned what world he came back into after revival. 

Barbara tries to talk to Dick, but he doesn't listen. But one thing that does resonate with him still, is his compassion for Barbara. He holds her cheek and Barbara leans her head onto it, and she holds his hand. "I'm sorry. But I gotta get away for a while." Dick reassures Barbara, still trying to control his emotions. 

Barbara, still processing the recent events, finally manages to voice a word. "Let me come with you." 

She was so sure before about her stance that the justice system was broken, but now she begins to rethink her position. Wondering what Evan would do. Dick stares into her eyes, weighing his options. She starts to shed a tear as everything starts to close in all at once, and she can barely hold it in. Dick rubs her cheek gently as he comes to his conclusion. "Okay." 

Barbara smiles, delighted. "Thank you." 

Dick rests his head next to hers, and then he takes her aside and grapples away with her in his arms.


	38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

Batman returns to the Batcave with Alfred already inside, eating some food he made originally for Bruce. "I can't let my food go to waste, Master Bruce." Alfred remarks.

Batman takes off his mask and puts it on a nearby table, walking towards Alfred who has another tray of food. "But don't worry, I always have plenty to spare."

Bruce ignores it like it's nothing. He turns on the Batcomputer and sees the city through CCTV footage with the anti-air defenses mounted on rooftops. "Oh my word!" Alfred gasps.

"Bane militarized the city in my absence." Bruce informs. "And he's not dead yet."

Alfred clears his throat, and reasserts himself as he looks around and sees only Bruce has returned, and not Barbara or Dick. "Where are the others?" Alfred asks.

Bruce is silent, wondering the same thing. He turns on their live feed replay and only sees the replay from before or during the fight, but not after. He switches to the tracking mode and sees they're moving out of Gotham City, and on their way to Blüdhaven it looks like. "Are they on a case?" Alfred asks.

"No," Bruce answers coldly. "they quit."

He then goes back to the CCTV footage, upset. "What did you do?" Alfred questions, dismayed.

Bruce doesn't answer. But Alfred believes he knows all too well.

"Oh dear…" he comments, distressed.

Alfred tries to reassert himself and redirects the topic. "Shouldn't you be in the medical bay? I just cleaned the floor and you're bleeding all over it."

"No. There's too much to focus on." Bruce bluntly answers back.

Alfred sighs with distress as Bruce goes to the workbench to make more explosive gel, seeing as it was so effective last time. Planning to utilize bigger portions to incapacitate Bane, and go in for the kill. Without spraying on his hand this time.

"You need to rest!"

Before Bruce can object, Alfred injects him in the neck to disorient him, knocking him out shortly after. The only way Alfred saw being able to stop him was with such a high dose.

Alfred contemplated for so long doing such a thing, but he felt it was wrong. He still does, though there was no other choice. Regretful that he didn't do this sooner. Before things got out of hand. Bruce will be out for two hours or so.

Alfred takes the gurney from the MedBay and drags it over to the workbench to put Bruce on it. Heavier than he thought, or could barely lift over his shoulders. Finally, he gets him back on the gurney and takes it back to the MedBay.

Alfred takes it upon himself to undress Bruce, taking off his suit and patching it up. When done, he puts it back in the display case, turns off the lights, and then watches it as it descends back into the surface.

He fiddles with the console for the suit some more, and reconfigures the access protocols, at which point he disables Bruce's access. Retinal, handprint, or voice recognition. Applying a server-wide confirmation throughout all the Batcaves in the city. Then turning the console back off.

Now that Alfred is sure that Bruce won't go on anymore dangerous tirades, he turns his attention to patching him back to health. Afterwards, he straps Bruce into the gurney, making sure he doesn't get out when he awakes. So he can rest. He finishes patching him up around the time the drug wears off, trying to work as fast as he can.

By the time he finishes, he heads back up to the Manor. To his bedroom. Once there, he can't help but stare at the Wayne Family picture frame on his wall, and feel worthless. Like he's broken the promise he made all those years ago. He breaks down in tears as he falls to his knees, deeply hurt by the things he's let slip through his fingers. "I failed you." He mutters under his breath. "I failed you." He repeats.

As he ponders on the notion that the little boy in a dark alley is no longer a child. A child that grew up faster than he could keep up with.

Downstairs, in the Batcave, Bruce comes to moments after Alfred leaves. His clouded mind takes some time to clear up. Once he's able to form a coherent thought, he looks around and sees he's at the MedBay, and not the Workbench. His Batsuit is removed, and he's strapped down to a gurney.

He's covered in bandages, and one of his arms is in a cast. Bruce becomes livid. He can't afford to waste time. He tries to get out but he's still a little fuzzy from the drug, and he's unable to get out of the restraints. After a number of tries, he decides to take a moment to catch his breath, muttering in anger his disapproval about Alfred's decision.

He doesn't know what Alfred did with the Batsuit, but he's sure it's something he won't like. As he rests on the gurney, helpless and in pain still, he stares the top of the cave. Contemplating about what to do next, and how to deal with Bane. Or what Alfred did this time. His mind then goes to Barbara and Dick. Them possibly done with hero business in Gotham, or with him. He feels guilty deep inside, but sacrifices had to be made.

He tries to slide his good arm out from under the restraint, and manages to succeed. He tries to work one of the buckles but it's in really tight. Eventually he manages to free himself of the buckles of the straps and wanders back to the Batsuit chamber, only to find he's locked out. He tries retinal, voice, and handprint recognition, and is met with access denied. He tries it repeatedly, and concludes that Alfred locked him out.

His irritation begins to boil up until it tips over and Bruce snaps, smashing the console. He falls to his knees in disappointment, left with no options, despite having every condition evaluated with another alternative.

But this time, he's forced to play the game Alfred's way. As the fury boils back up, Bruce swears under his breath, thinking about what he could've done. Cursing his life-long companion. "Dammit, Alfred."


	39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

Dick and Barbara decide to stop at a Backup Batcave to get a motorcycle to ride to Blüdhaven, but they stop halfway to take a breather. Grab a drink and a bite. Dick drives to the edge of a pier so he and Barbara can relax.

During this time of quiet, both of them are still processing Batman's outburst. Barbara decides to break the silence. Unsure of herself as she remembers something. "Dad.."

Dick hangs his head in shame as he remembers. Caught up in the moment. Only now having time to think. "I can't leave him."

She pauses for a moment as she collects herself. "But I don't want to be apart of Batman's crusade. No matter what side."

"I know what you mean." Dick answers, still broken up about what happened as a kid. Trying to make her feel better. "If you need to go back, you can. Don't be involved in crime fighting."

Barbara looks at her drink, conflicted. Thinking about so many things. "I just…"

She takes a deep breath as she continues. "I think I need to be somewhere else."

"Tell him you went on a field trip." Dick clarifies. "And you just forgot to tell him."

Barbara cracks a little smile, but not much of one at that. Dick grips his drink a little tighter now. Thinking he can finally let off some steam. "Honestly," Dick starts off. "I'm done with Gotham. With Batman. I'm never going back to this damn place."

Dick grits his teeth as he says this, and almost feels like throwing his drink. "Why did you come back?" Barbara asks, cautiously.

"Because of you." Dick answers.

Barbara's spirits lift a little. But Dick's spirit just gets worse. He gets fed up and decides to vent some more. "He took me in. He gave me a family. A purpose. And after all that time, he just tosses me away like I'm nothing."

He grips his drink harder now, almost spewing the water out from the side. Barbara listens, unsettled. Never hearing Dick be so openly livid. "What if someone took _you_ in when _your_ parents died and threw _YOU_ away, _TOO?_!" Dick finally shouts, crushing his drink as water spews out from the sides.

Barbara takes a step back as the water spews, dumbfounded at the words Dick just spouted. She doesn't know how to respond. Dick looks at her, and sighs with worry. "Look, I'm sorry." Dick apologizes.

Barbara finally finds the urge to speak back moments after the outburst. "I can't do this anymore!"

Now it's her turn to be livid. "Do what?" Dick asks.

"Being caught in between you two!" Barbara shouts.

Dick hangs his head in shame again. "I.." Dick starts, but Barbara interrupts him. "No, I can't take this anymore! You two can't go one day without shouting at each other! I know what he did wasn't right, but I can't do anymore of this!"

She runs her fingers through her hair aggressively as she collects her thoughts. "I'm going back to Gotham. I can't go with you." She concludes as she furiously takes off her mask and tosses it to the ground in front of Dick as she gets back onto her motorcycle. "And I'm done with this."

She then revs up her ride, and before she leaves, she decides to lay out her cards in front of Dick. "Y'know, at first, I wanted Batman to kill those criminals." Barbara retorts strongly.

Dick's eyes widen as he hears this. Feeling shock more than anger. "The system was broken. No one was doing anything about these murderers, and who knows what else." Barbara adds, but then decides to take a more controlled approach as she finishes. "But not like this. This isn't right."

She looks down as she continues. To avoid eye contact with Dick. "I didn't think I knew what it meant."

Dick feels conflicted. But finally he strikes back. "You were with him?!"

"I was."

"And who did you kill?"

"No one!"

Dick decides to believe her since she's always so honest. But right now, he isn't so sure. "And what else have you been hiding?"

"Nothing." Barbara looks at him in the eyes to reinforce her honestly.

They lock eyes for a moment, and in that brief moment, it's like nothing mattered. But the longer they looked at each other, the more guilty each one felt. Barbara's the first to look away. "I'm sorry." She comments, upset.

She then speeds away. Away from the man she loved before. So sure of herself only what felt like minutes before. He picks up Barbara's mask, and it feels rough in his hands as his fingers through the Kevlar, remembering the feel of her face. Her lips. Remembering simpler times when the world was easier to understand.

He stares at the empty shell inside the mask. He looks up at the sky, looking for answers. For something better. He puts the mask in his bag and takes off his mask, and tosses it in the ocean in frustration. _No more masks_. Dick thinks. _Not like Bruce_.

He gets back on his cycle and before he drives off, he stops to think about Barbara. How he acted. But he couldn't hold it in any longer. His anger got the better of him.

As he collects himself, he hits the road as fast as he can to get out of Gotham. Away from what memories he's had here.


	40. Chapter Forty

Evan called for a press conference to address a major issue. The Justice System. The press have gathered around with cameras, recorders, and questions at the ready. The mayor, Quincy Sharp, is backstage with Evan. And they decide to exchange a few words. "You Have my support, Evan." Sharp tells Evan.

"Thanks." Evan replies, kindly.

"Can't tell you how beneficial this will be." Sharp adds.

Evan straightens his cufflinks and his hat as he remarks. "Well, Gotham needs a better future."

"And I will do everything I can to enforce your effort."

Evan stops for a moment as his mind starts working, but he thinks this wouldn't be the right time to address it. Harry comes by and comments how there's so many people out there, and Evan can't help but feel a little nervous. "You ready? Got five minutes before go-time."

"Yeah." Evan sighs anxiously.

Evan takes a sip of water and remarks. "Is it hot in here to you, too?"

Harry watches as the mayor goes out to the podium and answers. "A little."

Harry takes a handkerchief and dabs the sweat on Evan's head. "Good thing you're not dripping." Harry adds.

Evan takes a deep breath and cracks his neck as he prepares himself. "Can't worry about sweat now." He adds.

The mayor calls Evan's name and Harry pats him on the back. "Break a leg."

Evan walks out through the curtains and a round of applause begins. The mayor takes a seat beside the podium and Evan takes another deep breath. "Thank you, Sharp." Evan starts. "It is my honor to lead the way for a better tomorrow with a stricter law enforcement policy. For too long, criminals have run rampant," he stops himself as he thinks back to Sharp. He then continues,

"and without the proper punishment. We put our faith in the justice system to take care of them. Parents afraid for their children's lives. Hiding in their houses. Nothing worked.

When the system failed, we put our faith in something else."

He stops himself as he thinks about Batman. Upset. "The Batman. He went outside the law to fix this city, and it only got worse because of him. Now, here we are."

"What are your thoughts on the sudden militarization of Gotham? What are your plans to help stop these concerns?" A reporter asks.

"We will be coordinating with our Special Forces Division and will assume the best action. Investigations are underway." Evan replies.

A door opens and Gordon sneaks in, trying not to disturb the meeting. He stands in a corner, staying quiet. Evan sees him and Gordon nods back. Sharp sees Gordon, and looks at him blankly. Gordon looks worried. "During the following weeks, there will be elections for new candidates for the justice system,"

Evan stops himself as he prepares for the words he's about to say. "and the old candidates will be tried for condoning heinous individuals to run free."

The press start taking pictures and murmuring amongst themselves. Harry, backstage, is dumbfounded. Gordon is speechless, and so is Sharp. "You're saying you'll have them arrested?" A reporter, Vicki asks.

"And will await trial for their actions."

"Then have them killed?!" Another reporter asks.

"They deserve it." Evan strikes back.

Gordon can't stay quiet after this and he shouts back. "Wait a damn minute!"

Evan looks at him and the press turn around to see him. They start taking pictures of him and Gordon blurts out. "You want them to run free?!" Evan spouts back.

"They're just normal people." Gordon retorts.

"That let people like the Joker free every damn time!" Evan barks back.

"I'm not agreeing with their decisions. And I'm not agreeing with you. You're calling for a dictatorship!"

"Someone has to make the hard decisions."

"And who's next after them?!"

Evan shoots a look at Gordon, displeased. "Any other questions?" Evan asks the crowd, ignoring Gordon's words.

Gordon scoffs under his breath as a reporter asks Sharp. "Mr. Sharp, what is your stance on this?"

"I was not informed of this decision, but we will discuss this privately."

Everyone looks curiously, and then Evan breaks the silence. "No further questions."

Evan goes backstage and gets an earful from Harry. "What the hell are you doing?!" He blurts out, still keeping his voice down so no one behind the curtains can hear them.

"You want to be the one that lets criminals run free?" Evan strongly asks.

Harry rushes his hands across his face in frustration, continuing on his tirade. "You're out of your mind! I knew you've hated criminals, but this? This is too far."

Evan pats him on the back and walks away, shrugging off the criticism. Harry doesn't take no as an answer and still tries to talk to him. "I'm sorry, but this is what I had to do." Evan answers back.

Later that day, at night, Evan comes back to the GCPD and goes to a storage room. There, he finds a familiar face. One too real. Himself. The other Evan, looking down at the clone tied up, remarks gleefully. "Your turn, Evan."


	41. Chapter Forty-One

_EARLIER_ …

Once in the Batmobile, Jason sits in there for a moment. Contemplating about Batman. Himself. In this time, he has a chance by himself to think. He now remembers everything as he gets over the realization he used to be dead. He remembers Joker, and how much he loathed him. Hated Batman. Hated himself. 

Jason's memories all form together as he begins to contemplate revenge. Against everyone. But he knows the only way to best exact his vengeance, is to go back to the Batcave and gather equipment. And a shirt. 

Luckily, the Batsignal brand marks on Jason's body were washed away while in the Lazarus Pit, but the pit couldn't erase the memory. It still resonates crystal clear. The sound of boiling hot metal piercing against cold, battered skin. The screams piercing through the abyss, and no one but the Joker to hear it. 

Jason closes his eyes and grits his teeth as he remembers the pain, and then how he couldn't do anything to stop Joker. Or anyone else. But now he does. 

As he gets ready to head back to the Batcave, he forgets where to go. "Uh.." he mumbles. "How the hell do I get back home?" 

He sees so many buttons and so many different switches. He doesn't even know where to start. He nervously hits a button that fires a missile and blows up a car, and car alarms nearby start to sound off. Jason speeds away from the scene in an effort to avoid conflict. A Bane thug and a Penguin thug were patrolling nearby, and they look at the decimated car. The two assume that one of the missile launchers must've misfired, and the Penguin thug asks cautiously. "Y'sure those things won't kill us?"

"Pretty sure." The Bane thug answers after a brief silence.

As the silence continues, the thug finally comes to a logical conclusion. "I'm gettin' a real job." 

As Jason finds a place to get away from the scene, he then thinks about how he could then use the missiles to kill some criminals, but a computer screen says only three remain, and he decides it isn't worth it. And beside the screen is a 3D map of Gotham City, with the Batcaves highlighted in red. The main one and Wayne Manor highlighted in Blue. Municipal structures highlighted in yellow. 

Jason drives to Wayne Manor, but then he stops himself as he remembers a crucial detail. The entrance to the Batcave will be hidden away for security purposes. And the entrance isn't on the map. If Jason drives to Wayne Manor in the Batmobile, Bruce's identity could be compromised. 

Jason leans back in his chair, upset. He curses under his breath as he doesn't know his next move. Then he hears a voice over the speakers. Bruce. "Jason. Are you there?"

"Yeah. But how am I supposed to get back to the Batcave?"

"Follow the map." Bruce answers.

"But where's the secret entrance?" Jason asks.

Then all of a sudden, the Batmobile roars to life again as the engine revs up and speeds away to the Batcave from the Recall Command from the Batcomputer. The city passes by in a flash as the Batmobile effortlessly maneuvers every obstacle. Every thug in its way jumps away, or is electrocuted. 

Eventually, Jason finds himself in a tunnel and as he approaches the dead-end, the car speeds by and a wall opens up, closing behind it upon entry. The car then makes it way back home through a series of curves through the tunnel and then re-enters the cave. It stops at a landing pad as it rotates back around. Then finally, the monstrous engine rests, and the beast returns to its slumber in peace. Jason jumps out of the Batmobile and Bruce stands weakly with bandages over his body. Only wearing pants. Examining the sample Dick got from Bane. The source of his enhancement. Bruce is only now studying the substance. 

Neither Jason nor Bruce offer a comment to each other, but moments later, Jason says something. "This place has changed a lot." 

And nothing more from that. The bats flutter above, but the screeches from these innocent creatures is something far from friendly. It's something ominous. With one bat louder than the others. 

A bat then perches on Bruce's shoulder, and he doesn't acknowledge it. Hissing in his ear almost like a turns to see the bat, and Bruce allowing it to corrupt his mind. Jason sees that Bruce is far gone by now, but he can't bring himself to care all that much. Jason ignores the bat, but he can't ignore the giant bat hanging from the ceiling. Looking down on him, His eyes tracing his every move. 

Jason moves to the workbench and sees a bunch of gadgets. Batarangs. Escrima Sticks. Explosive Gel. A clay sample. And an empty capsule next to a note that reads: ICE GRENADE. 

Jason continues to explore and sees antiques of the Rogues Gallery. Harley's Hammer. A pouch of fear gar sealed in a container. A Joker card with HA written all over it in blood. Whose blood, is uncertain. Or if it was his own.

Continuing his walk around the Antique Gallery, he sees a whip and a jewel from Catwoman. A monocle from Penguin. A flower from Poison Ivy. A Freeze Gun from Mr. Freeze. A jetpack from Firefly. And a gun. The plaque on the display reads: PROPERTY OF **JOE CHILL**.The name is written in bold. 

Inside the display case is a pearl necklace. Cleaned to pristine condition. Wiping off the blood from that fateful night. And the next case isn't apart of the Rogues Gallery. It's an "In Memoriam" display case. A Robin mask. Jason thought all the other displays weren't much of anything, but this one strikes a chord. All this time, he had thought Bruce didn't care. That he left him to die. That he was glad he was dead. Or it was the Joker tormenting him. But he places his hand on the plaque and feels like might've been wrong about his anger. However, he isn't ready to openly reveal his regret. He isn't ready to say sorry. Although he feels like he was wrong, he begins to have conflicting emotions. Not sure if this is enough to forgive Bruce. 

Jason turns to see Bruce is still studying the sample, and decides he might as well continue exploring. As he's about to go up an elevator, the Batcomputer delivers a loud message: "Selina Kyle is requesting entry into the Manor." 

Jason turns to see the Batcomputer, and sees a splitscreen with one showing Selina in a car in front of the gate to the Manor. The bat on Bruce's shoulder flies away and Bruce takes a moment before greenlighting her arrival. He goes to an elevator to the top floor, and Jason goes in with him. Deciding he's had enough of being underground for a while. On the way up, the two don't talk or acknowledge each other. But Jason looks down and sees Bruce's hand, the one that isn't in a cast, is curled up into a firm fist. Like gripping iron. What's going on in his head, Jason is unsure. Though Jason can assume he's falling off the deep end. His eyes are empty, with only rage to occupy the space. Jason remembers that look. Joker showed him a mirror of his face one time during torturing him, and saw he was losing his mind. Even more so during the darker moments of being kidnapped by the Joker. 

For days, Jason would be underground. Underneath the tent in complete darkness. No light. No food. No water. No one to talk to. Only person he had to talk to was the person he wanted to kill. Jason knows it wasn't entirely Bruce's fault, but the Joker repeated it over and over, and he began to believe it. He isn't sure he can fully forgive him, or if he ever will. The plaque struck a chord with Jason, but it's possible Jason, truly, is too far gone.


	42. Chapter Forty-Two

Alfred goes to open the door when the bell is rung, and Selina is behind it. "Good evening, Ms. Kyle."

"Hello, Alfred." Selina answers back. Feeling peeved off that she's actually here.

Alfred takes her coat and Selina looks around in mystery. "Why is it so dark here?"

"Master Bruce has been under some, shall I say, questionable circumstances." Alfred answers back.

Selina tries to flip the light switch but everything remains dark. Only lit by the moonlight through the windows. The gothic atmosphere exudes throughout the mansion. Alfred accompanies her with a candle and he asks her. "What brings you here?"

Selina can't respond. Either afraid to answer or afraid of her own response. She stands like a statue, unexpressive, but Alfred asks her another question. "Is it a certain man?"

Selina puts her hands in her pockets, biting her lip guiltily. Feeling like she's been caught. Alfred doesn't seem as cheery right now though. Selina pretends not to notice. "I guess that makes two of us." Alfred adds, upset.

Selina stands there for a little while before Alfred offers her some tea. "No. But do you have some wine?"

"Yes. What would you like?"

"Something delicious, and not too strong."

"Right you are." Alfred responds as he goes to the winery to pick out a drink.

As Selina decides to walk around a bit, she looks out a window and looks at the moon. It's like every other night she's looked at the night sky, it all seemed the same. Light and the darkness. But now, it feels like the light is a bit darker. The manor feels cold and empty, despite being full of everything a rich man could imagine. She then runs into a picture on a wall. Framed and laminated. Kept in tip-top shape. But it's the Wayne Family Portrait. Selina runs her hands across the surface of the picture, and feels a sense of dread she touches it. Like this picture is something terrible. When everyone in the picture is smiling.

Selina can't help but run her fingers across the surface, and feeling a chill striking her skin. She almost enjoys the dread, but something feels wrong. As she thinks about what it is, she hears a voice from behind her that startles her. "Selina." Bruce asks,

This startles Selina. She turns around to see Bruce shrouded in darkness. "What are you doing?" He questions, softly. Something dark almost innocent.

Selina takes a deep breath and tries to dodge the bullet. "I came here for some wine." She could fool everyone else, but Bruce knows her too well.

Bruce and Selina gaze at each other in silence as they start to think about their next move, and Bruce is the first one to make it. He steps out of the dark and into the light, showing his battle-damage, but his eyes shrouded in darkness. "Bruce…" Selina gasps, shocked at Bruce's state. "What happened to you?"

He stands strong as he says what's on Selina's mind. What gnaws away at her. Ignoring what Selina asked him. "You came here for me, didn't you?"

Selina bites her lip, embarrassed. "Fine." She sighs.

She looks away from him and comments. "I...I tried to move on. I wanted to get away from all this. From you."

She now looks at him, swallowing her pride as she finishes. "This city is a hellhole, but there's a reason I keep coming back to all this. Because of you. Because everything else is boring."

Selina looks away from Bruce, almost embarrassed. She then takes a deep breath as she finishes. "There's _something_ about you."

Selina then turns her attention back to Bruce, and his wounds. "Come with me. Leave this behind. You don't have to come home looking like hell."

"I made a promise." Bruce finally responds as he stays half shrouded in the dark. His voice almost broken.

Selina asks, upset. "What promise?"

"To my parents."

She then feels a pang of guilt. Never hearing the answer before. But still, she persists. "But you can't force change on a city that doesn't want it."

Bruce would usually retort, but he knows she's right. So he explains his intentions. "I can't do what you do, Selina. I can't have a life. I've tried. And it didn't work. Now, I'm here, fighting to protect this city. That's why I don't see a life with you. Because I wasn't meant to be happy. I was meant for one thing. So another kid wouldn't lose his parents in a dark alley."

Selina is now flushed with remorse for all those times she's pestered him. She looks into his eyes, if they were there, showing in the light. She used to see a rich man living in a rich mansion, dressing up to fight crime. Now she sees a broken man who lost his way years ago. "You never told me that." She replies, shocked.

"I didn't think you were ready before." He adds.

Selina takes a moment to collect her thoughts as Bruce apologizes. "I'm sorry, Selina."

Selina keeps her eyes locked on Bruce's, and she takes responsibility. "No. I'm sorry."

Bruce finally steps into the light, revealing the loss in his eyes. Bruce takes Selina's hand as he walks closer towards her as she asks him. "So, do you plan on fighting crime with one arm?"

"It hasn't stopped me before."

Alfred quietly walks up the stairs, staying quiet before as to not intrude on the conversation. He hands Selina a glass of wine, and she takes a sip. "I think this is a little too strong." She remarks, a little dissatisfied.

"My apologies, Ms. Kyle."

She nods her head back as she hands the glass back to Alfred. "Would you like anything else?" He asks.

"Not right now."

Alfred then leaves as Bruce tries to move his fingers in the cast. Impatiently waiting for the healing water Talia applied to take effect and get back to work. If his suit is under lockdown, there's still another underneath Wayne Enterprises. He begins to regain some motor functions as he starts to unwrap his cast. "Uh, what're you doing?" Selina asks.

"I've waited long enough." Bruce answers, bluntly.

"Should you keep it in a cast?"

"Not anymore."

Bruce heads to his room as he gets dressed to go to Wayne Enterprises, preparing for the worst for what obstacles wait for him on the way there.


	43. Chapter Forty-Three

Bruce goes to the Batcave again and gets into his car to make his way to Wayne Enterprises, noting how the city is still under military control. The number of men on the ground aren't as widespread as Bruce would believe yet, and they're not stopping Bruce driving out on the streets. Perhaps that's how Selina managed to get to the Manor.

Bruce notices, however, they do give him looks as he passes by, and one talking into a walkie-talkie. Bruce thinks that there is something on the horizon. Something Bane has in mind, considering a great majority of the soldiers on the streets wear his attire. As he finally approaches Wayne Enterprises, he finds it's barricaded. Wooden boards blocking the entrance to the building, and Bane thugs in front of the barricades. He gets frustrated and backs up his car, and speeds through the barricade as the man jumps out of the way. The men gather to the broken barricade, and start their trek downwards after Bruce.

He believes they'll be coming after him with that stunt, but they won't be able to follow him through the elevator. He goes to the garage and jumps out, shouting to the Batcomputer to block the entrance to the floor and rushes to the elevator, typing the code to the RnD sector. As the door to the elevator closes, Bruce sees that the Bane thugs have made it to the entrance, and see the Batmobile is blocking their way. He slides down too fast to see if it worked, but he hears a loud noise like something being torn apart, followed by a scream of rage. He manages to get to the RnD sector, and as the door closes behind him, he looks around for a suit Anything. And one catches his eye. His first costume.

Less tech and more fabric than anything else, but the design of the costume is the same to his new one. He gets a fire extinguisher and bashes open the display case He quickly takes off his clothes and starts suiting up. All of a sudden, almost halfway through this, a loud thud is heard nearby. Bruce doesn't look as he's focused on one thing right now. A thug has managed to tear through the top of the elevator, and break through the glass door. The others follow behind him. They weren't juiced up, and one of them was. To preserve their fuel supply. Batman, upon suiting up, hid behind a pillar, planning out his next move as he sees a behemoth among the other three men. He thinks that they can buff out too. He thinks they're using the drug Bane uses, but a less potent sample. They aren't as big as he was. But he wants to be careful.

He believes that they'll have something covering up their fuel supply like Bane did. The thugs start to search around for Bruce, but all they can think of is Bruce's secret lair unveiled. "Bruce Wayne is Batman?!" One of them shouts.

"Holy shit." One of them comments.

 _I've been compromised._ Batman thinks. Now they can't ever leave this room. Batman sneaks around to one of the thugs, behind him as puts him in a headlock, snapping his neck. Twisting it a bit further beyond the limit to make sure he's dead. The other three heard the muffled cries, and they go to investigate. The Venom thug's supply runs out and the other two start to buff up. Batman notices this. It's like a duration limit. _One minute,_ he thinks, making an estimate. And as it's a less potent supply, Bane's would last longer. He wants the goods to himself.

The thugs bullrush towards Batman at incredible speed, and the caped crusader gets out his smoke pellets as he jumps out of the way. He throws the pellets down as he fight his way through the smoke, unable to his detective mode in his downgraded suit to see through the mist, but he was trained for scenarios like this. Unfortunately, not fighting someone bigger than he is. He uses a fire extinguisher to bash away at the thugs, hoping to have more of an impact than he himself would. Doubting he would be strong to hurt them. But even if it seems to work for a short while, the canister Batman was using is starting to dent.

Nevertheless, Batman keeps swinging at the thug across the face, but then he grabs the canister and crushes it, causing the contents to spray everywhere. Batman covers his eyes and his mouth when it broke open, avoiding contact with the contents inside. Luckily, as Batman anticipated, the canister would eventually break, catching the thugs off guard, and the one who crushed the extinguisher can't see, and their lungs begin to fill up now. There's still another one, much to Batman's dismay. He catches him off-guard, knocking him down hard.

Batman rolls out of the way of the knee slam as fast as he can. The Dark Knight then gets out his explosive gel, plays it safe as he sprays the paste on the man's back, but he ends up thwarted. The thug backhands him, knocking him down. He then steps on the explosive gel to dismantle Batman's plan, but not only did he crush it, he presses the button on it. Both of them. One of them to detonate a sprayed sample. And another, as a self-destruct. A last resort. Meant for an entirely different purpose.

This causes a massive explosion, spreading particles and gel everywhere. This ends up killing the thug. Batman is only left with one. The one who depowered early. Still not strong enough to get back on his feet. When Batman approaches him, he asks him, "Is Bane listening?"

Despite being a lower-tech costume, Bruce still made sure to add the voice modifier. "Yes." The thug answers weakly.

Batman grabs him by the throat and lifts him up as he speaks, "Then know this: This is my city, not yours."

Batman then slams the thug down on the hard metallic floor, cracking his skull. Once he's dealt with, Bruce opens up the thug's vest to confirm a suspicion, and he was right. Tubes underneath the vest. The drug that Bane used.

Batman grimaces as his sides hurt from the hits he took earlier, but thankful it wasn't any worse. He goes back to ground level, firing his grapnel hook to the top of the elevator shaft. But as he gets onto his feet, he sees his car is torn apart. Not the Batmobile of course, but at least Batman knows what was going on earlier. Batman calls in the Batmobile to his location as he ventures out into Gotham, with the goal to examine what soft spots he can find in the missile launchers and whatever else Bane has up his sleeves.


	44. Chapter Forty-Four

In Arkham Asylum, two guards are guarding the entry-way to Joker's cell, which is part of a secluded sector of the prison where only authorized personnel can enter. During their shift, one of the guards notices something off-putting. Something terrible. "Hey, do you hear something?"

The guard listens, only hearing the crows outside and the busted air conditioning in the building. "No."

"Exactly." The other guard answers.

The clown has stopped laughing. They open the door to venture through the hallway leading to the Joker's cell. Walking through the rusty, decaying hall as bugs crawl around and through the cracks. They make it to the cell, and find the Joker facing the wall. His back turned to the guards.

The guards keep the door open in case they need to make a split-second retreat if Joker does anything questionable. But he's sitting in his padded cell. Almost in a comatose state. Smiling like it was glued onto his face. His eyes fixated on nothing. "Jesus.." One guard remarks, worryingly.

The other guard checks his pulse. He's still alive. When the guard checks the Joker's pulse, he snaps out of his comatose and finally acknowledges the guards. Still sitting still like a rock. Talking slowly and almost joyfully. "Do you ever...wait for something magical to happen? Something you could wait your whole life for, and never see it. So many dreams just shatter. But the few of us that are given this gift, we don't know what to do with ourselves. We feel so complete, but so empty. So one is to wonder: What else is left of this life if everything has already been done? When I have no purpose anymore? It's simple. You find another purpose. The only way to feel fulfilled, is to wait for death."

His smiles widely as his eyes are flushed with excitement. He leaps up to his feet and headbutts a guard, quickly taking his gun and shooting his friend in the leg. "Shit!" He cries out as he watches his friend bleed out in front of him.

He strikes the Joker in the rib cage and tries to tase him, but the Joker only laughs as the electricity awakens his nerves in a terrible frenzy. Joker then kicks the guard in the groin, and the guard falls to his knees, wincing in pain. "There goes a whole generation of kids!" Joker remarks as he kicks him there again. "And another for good measure!"

Joker cackles as he kicks the guard onto his back, jumping on his chest, laughing as he crushes the man's rib cage.

The other guard's losing blood fast, and begins to feel lightheaded. He tries to haphazardly grab his gun, and in his haze, he can't get a clean aim on Joker. He aims for his head, in an effort to kill the Joker, once and for all. To end everyone's suffering. He pulls the trigger, and misses. Joker ducks and looks at the guard. The clown smiles as he exclaims. "That's the spirit!"

The Joker grabs the gun of his hand, and shoots him in the throat, struggling to breathe, gurgling on blood. Shortly after, he dies. The other guard is near death, and it takes a bullet to the chest to finish him off. The clown gets out of his prison clothes and dresses up in the SWAT gear from the dead guards, taking their guns with him and reloading them with bullets, albeit non-lethal, as he skips out of the cell with glee. Only to be barred by a security terminal that requires authorized access to open with a combination of codes. Joker laughs and shoots at it until the door opens. Going out in the wild..


	45. Chapter Forty-Five

Hours later, Batman is examining the new structures in Gotham City. Using his binoculars, he studies the missile launchers and flak cannons from afar. Even watching it being constructed by hand with parts airlifted from a chopper. He starts to see convoys patrolling the streets, and sees less of the Penguin thugs. More of Bane's. He hasn't heard any gunshots. Perhaps they took shelter somewhere because something might be on the horizon. Whatever it may be, Batman doesn't like it.

Judging by the caliber of the armor he sees the thugs wearing, the convoys, the anti-air defenses, the GCPD won't be enough to stop this. More of the thugs are starting to wear armor, and ditching the street clothes. _Militarized indeed._ Batman thinks.

While he surveys the surroundings, the billboards on the side of some buildings are playing news broadcasting networks. They're recapping the conference Evan gave, and Batman turns his attention to that for a moment as he watches. He sees Gordon and everyone flipping out when he calls for the execution of older members of the jury, and replacing them with new ones. Despite his change of heart, Batman disagrees with this idea. Still holding the "by the book" philosophy he got from Jim to heart. Unfortunately, Batman's rewritten most of it, without Gordon's knowing.

The news switches to a replay of a female broadcaster, Alice, who is talking about the Batman. She starts off a little disheartened. "I used to believe in the Batman. I used to think he was doing good for Gotham. Doing what the police couldn't."

She takes a long pause before continuing with her speech. "He was hope in a city that had lost its way. He was something else. He came out of nowhere, and sought to protect this city. He put the untouchable in jail, and went where no one would dare to go."

She smiles a little as she thinks about the past. As she goes on to speak. "I didn't have to be afraid of being out at night anymore. No matter what other criminals came out to cause terror, Batman would always step in."

Then her smile disappears as she thinks of something else. Her light hearted message turns heavy. "But then, one day, something happened. He started killing people. I couldn't agree with this, given that I was a firm believer in justice. I told myself this was the right thing. But then I watched the footage of him in action, and it didn't seem like the hero we all knew and loved, and feared. It was like he had lost his way. Like he wasn't this,"

She stops herself as she thinks of a word to describe Batman. Batman's on his feet, watching. Listening. Intently. Feeling a bit of remorse. But he knew there was only one end to all this crime. Even the Bane thugs have turned their attention to the broadcast.

"This _paragon_ of justice. Of hope. We knew him as a myth. Something different. Lieka force of nature. Never-changing. Always persistent."

She shakes her head in disapproval as she looks broken, in front of hundreds and hundreds of people. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, it was like watching someone you've looked up for years giving up. Going onto the wrong path."

Batman's stunned at her statement. Before, he felt a tiny shred of regret. Now, the regret is much stronger. He takes off his mask and looks at the cowl, thinking to himself. _What have I done?_ Though despite this, he still feels he has to keep doing what he's doing to protect Gotham. Something inside him just won't let him. Maybe it's the darkness in him. Or something much deeper.

Then the broadcast switches to two newscasters responding to the replay. "I say Batman is doing the right thing. You can't lock up a crazed killer and expect them to learn their lesson. You give 'em a slap on the wrist, and they'll cut yours off." The male newscaster, Brian, starts off.

"I agree with her sentiments. I never really thought of it like she did. Someone giving up." The female newscaster, Samantha, answers back.

Batman continues to survey Gotham as he listens to the broadcasters debating Batman, and Alice's commentary. Then, they're interrupted by a man coming in to deliver some breaking news.

Brian reads it off and looks genuinely scared. He hands it to Samantha so she can be filled in too, and she looks even more terrified. Batman then gets a call from Gordon. "Batman." Jim sounds frightened.

"What is it, Jim?" Batman asks.

"Joker. He's loose in Arkham. I'm hearing reports that he's killed twenty people already. I don't know if it's other criminals or the guards."

Brian then says he's about to show a chilling video the Joker recorded in Arkham Asylum. A reporter caught wind of the story, and went to investigate. The Joker told the reporter to upload the video. The video starts off with the reporter investigating Arkham Asylum, entering and seeing people murdered. The reporter is beyond terrified. "I better get paid for this." The reporter complains.

Batman notices something in the video. Some of the bodies are lined up in an R. _Robin.._ Batman thinks. He starts to form a fist in his hands as he puts the binoculars back, and calling the Batmobile to his location while the video goes on. Watching. The reporter keeps walking around, and then he runs into the Joker. He hides behind a wall, and then the Joker heads to the man's direction. The reporter is trying to run too fast and ends up tripping, and the Joker gets on top of him with a knife, but instead of killing him, the Joker starts off by saying, "I'm not going to kill you. I just want to send a message. A message to the Batman."

Batman tightens his fists as he listens to the Joker's voice. His moments of laughter. "If you don't come here fast, there's going to be a whole lot of dead people here. Maybe I'll find another Robin!" Joker remarks, striking a chord in Batman's mind.

"A shame there are no kids here, or else I'd have some real fun. But I guess we can't all get what we want."

The Joker takes the cameraman's camera and starts talking into it. "But did it hurt when you couldn't find Jason? What went through your mind? Did you dare not think about what I did to him?"

Batman's blood boils like a fire, out of control. The Batmobile arrives but Batman's still watching. Hoping to fuel his fire. Hoping to use it. All of it. For when he meets the Joker again. "I branded him with your Batsymbol."

Batman's fire only grows to an exponential rate. "I put him on an electric chair and listened to him squeal like a little baby."

He then pretends to scream in pain, ending it with a bellowing laugh. Batman can't wait anymore. He jumps from the top of the building and gets into his Batmobile, driving full speed to Arkham Asylum. The broadcast still playing in his car. "But wait, there's more! Come over to Arkham Asylum and I'll tell you more! But you'll have to beat the answers out of me. One of us dies tonight. Who it ends up being, is up to you."

Batman turns off the broadcast when the video ends, and only now does he hear Alfred's voice in his comms. He turns him off. Batman pushes his car to the limit. Making it go as fast as he can. Doing whatever he can. Now, there won't be anyone to stop him.


	46. Chapter Forty-Six

Batman arrives at the Asylum and kicks open the door with a fury, and the first thing he sees is a guard hanging from the ceiling with his stomach cut up. Spelling out HA in the incisions. And a smile carved on his face. Batman sees more dead bodies on the ground, and decides to venture further into the MadHouse. As soon as he opens the door, the Joker can be heard over the intercoms. "Batman! You made it! I was beginning to think you wanted me to kill these people. Don't worry. I saved some bad guys for you. But there's simply not enough people here for you to catch up with me. Maybe if you kill me, you'll make up for being so slow for so long. Just think. Jason could still be alive!"

Batman grimly stares into a camera as Joker remarks. "Keep your pointy ears away from the camera! They're private property, y'know?"

Batman sees a criminal, bleeding out, propped up against a wall. Reaching out for Batman to finish him. "And here's your first one. Unfortunately, this is technically still my kill. But hey, teamwork!"

Batman's rage engulfs him as he listens to the Joker ramble on over the intercoms. He's blinded by the anger. And having been so complacent with murder before, Batman is more than willing, now more than ever, to kill. Batman grabs the criminal by the hand, lurches him forward, and kicks him in the face.

This crushes his skull and dislocates the criminal's arm. A distinct cracking sound can be heard. "Ooh! That's the spirit! And speaking of dead people, let's talk about Jason. I did promise I'd finish my story."

Batman forms a fist, hearing the Joker talk. Explaining all the morbid ways Jason was tormented. Beaten with a crowbar. And on rare occasions, the crowbar would be extra hot for the Joker's pleasure. Sometimes he'd make Jason sleep on hot coals. Isolate him from the world. Told him he was going to die alone. As Batman hears all this and more, even swallowed by anger, he still has a heart enough to feel disgusted. His stomach churns. He knows he used to hate Jason, but he still cared. And it drives him mad he never saved him in time. "I know it's hard to hear this, but trust me, you'll be all the better for it. Maybe you'll learn not to trust some people. Do things yourself! Just smile through the hard times. Forget about everything! Take a load off. And watch the world burn. Because that's all that matters in the end. You can't lose someone you loved if you never cared."

Joker chuckles a bit and then he continues. "Maybe you never did care. Maybe you wanted him dead. I mean, who wouldn't right? What a whiner! But I'll be damned if he didn't put up a fight. He put so much effort in fighting back. So much work. Jokes on him. I came out on top."

Batman traverses throughout the labyrinth that is Arkham, and he is accompanied by only the grisly wind outside and the crows that sing every now and then. Singing for trespassers to flee. The trees creak in the night. The broken cobblestones are like a mask, hiding something sinister beneath. Robin spray painted along the walls. Drawings of a crowbar and multicolored HAs across the surface. Sometimes there'll be Harley's diamonds across the walls. And dead bodies either strung up or lined up against a wall. All of them with a smile carved on their face.

Eventually, Batman enters the cafeteria and sees criminals have taken over. The one spot that isn't littered with dead convicts, so far. One of them sees Batman and shouts his name in shock as everyone tries to run, but then they remember they barricaded themselves in to hide from the Joker.

The thugs run towards Batman, seeing it as the only option at this point. Believing they can have either have some fun, or have some revenge. Batman brutalizes the criminals, not giving them an inch. And though the room isn't littered with dead convicts, there are still a couple of dead guards, equipped with non-lethal guns.

As the fight continues, Batman slams a thug's head against a wall until he dies. He slits someone's throat with his gauntlets, then headbutts them for good measure. He kicks someone's hip, hard enough to cripple them, then he picks them up by the throat and bashes their head through a window. He blocks an attack and then grabs their arm, uses it to block a knife, then he snaps his arm and the knife falls out. As the convict's arm is broken, Batman elbows him in the other shoulder, and then smashes him into the ground.

During the progression of the brawl, Batman is unaware of one key thing. A criminal with a gun. He manages to get a shot off. Leaving a bullet in Batman's back. This old suit doesn't have the shock dampening technology, nor does it grant a better protection against bullets, let alone non-lethal. It cuts through Batman's cloth, and a split second of pause is enough for some of the bad guys to get a few hits in on him. One tries to unmask him. They almost succeed, but it was enough of a peak to solve the puzzle.

Batman gets pissed and starts pushing away some of the attackers, and as he turns around, he's shot in the leg. He grunts as he pulls out his Batarang and throws it as it lodges itself in the shooter's shoulder. He drops the gun and screams out in pain. The criminals start mocking Batman, calling him Brucie-boy and some shouting obscenities. He then gets out another Batarang and stabs someone in the eye, pulls it out and cuts someone's throat with it. He then puts it back in the criminal's eye, and kicks him aside.

As blood begins to coat Batman's gloves and costume, he doesn't stop there. He's in a mad rage, imagining he's killing the Joker. As his identity was revealed, Batman begins to be even more livid. More brutal. Finally, the battle ends as Batman looks around him, seeing all the dead around him. He looks around, hoping to see Joker, but he isn't there. And right on cue, the acting warden comes on over the inercoms. "WHAT?! I missed you slaughtering all these poor inmates?! Damn it Harley!"

He scoffs and then he puts on a happier tone. "Oh well. There's still replay! Harley, get my popcorn! Make it extra crunchy. I wanna crack every time Bats breaks someone's arm!"

Batman turns to a closet to see if anyone is hiding in there, and he finds a guard. He points a gun at Batman when he sees the door open, and then relaxes when he sees him. "I'm sorry, Batman. I couldn't stop them. I couldn't stop Joker. I should be dead.."

Batman makes sure to assure the guard. "I'll stop him. Just stay safe, and out of my way."

His voice is cold and grim while he tries to offer hope. The guard looks at Batman's blood stains. His fists that haven't unclenched yet. He notices Batman's change in tone. He always sees him as more controlled. "Are you sure?" The guard asks.

Batman starts to walk away as he replies bluntly. "I'll be fine."

The guard gets a look at all the dead convicts. The blood everywhere. "Did you kill these guys?!"

Despite being complacent with his new way of doing things, he still feels too guilty to answer. Or perhaps, he just doesn't care anymore. The guard takes the silence as a hint to the answer. "What's happened to you?" The guard asks him.

Batman stops as he turns to the guard. "He's gone too far. Jail can't stop him. But I can. I'm the only one that can."

The guard looks at him in shock. Batman walks up to the guard and tells him to his face. "The blood he's spilt. That's on my hands. On all of us for not acting sooner. If people like you did your damn job, I wouldn't be here."

His stance is firm and blunt on the matter, and looks the guard dead in the eyes, almost staring into his soul. "And I'm not just talking about the Joker."

The guard stares back in terror. In absolute remorse. Adding onto the weight he already carried before. He crumbles under the pressure and whispers under his breath. "I'm sorry."

"Like hell you are."

Batman then leaves the room, and moments later, he hears a gunshot. Assuming the guard took desperate measures. And in that moment, it was like the Asylum has grown even darker. Even quieter. As the blood drips from Batman's hands, he relaxes his hands and wants to save his anger for the Joker. At which point, the clown comes on again with a bellowing laugh. "Oh Bats, I knew you had it in you. Just killing people left and right. There's something beautiful about this. Isn't that right, Brucie-boy?"

Batman stops in his tracks as the Joker has found something more damning to use against him than Jason. His identity. His parents. And now the whole Asylum knows his name. "It's a sad life for you, isn't it? No family. No friends. A dead-end career. I mean, your reputation is dying right now. But you know what that's like, don't you?"

Batman grabs a Batarang and throws it at a speaker. "Ooh! I struck a nerve there, didn't I Bruce?"

Batman kicks a door down as he goes out on the lawn, and the Warden Tower is straight ahead. Not far now. But then he's interrupted by something troubling. Something that'll get in his way. "Wait, why is there a Robin in Arkham?" Joker asks in the speaker. "How many Robins do you have? Do you just rob orphanages and dress them up in bright tights, and when you've put your heart and soul into them, you leave them to die by a handsome and smashing man like myself? Oh, you shouldn't have!"

Batman then stops in his tracks as he contemplates dealing with Jason, or with the Joker. "You're taking too long, Brucie! Do you want me to come to you? Or do I gotta leave a trail of dead bodies for you to notice me?"

Batman then goes on his way to the Tower, and then he hears a shout from behind. Someone almost out of breath. "Batman!" Jason shouts.

"Get out of here. This is my fight."

"Alfred sent me here to stop you. But I came here for him."

There's a moment of silence as Jason stands there, looking at Batman in disgust. "All this time, you were so eager to keep the Joker alive. But the moment you allow someone to deliver justice, it has to be you. You weren't the one tortured."

"I started this. I have to finish it."

Jason walks up to Batman and tries to shove him aside as he heads to the Tower, and Robin turns to land a hit on Bruce. Batman blocks it and he throws Jason against a wall. "You son of a bitch." Jason snarls as he leaps to Batman.

Batman counters a lot of Jason's attacks, but he always was the more aggressive and reckless Robin so far. Jason gets some good hits in as he clocks him against the cheek, blood spewing out. A fist to the abdomen and the throat, but Batman blocks it and elbows him in the face. While Jason's arm is occupied, he kicks Batman in the hip. Jason's attacks are faster than Batman's, considering he's younger and more aggressive.

Batman punches Jason in the rib cage, punches his shoulder, kicks his foot out from under him, knees his chest as he falls down, and punches him onto the ground. Batman then turns around to walk out onto the lawn, but Jason isn't done yet. He's taken some guns from the guards, and shoots Batman in the back. Batman turns around and throws a Batarang, but Jason dodges it. He then takes the Batarang as it lodges itself in a crack in the wall, and uses it to his advantage. He switches between cutting with the Batarang, and shooting with the gun, oftentimes missing when Batman stops him. He breaks Jason's hand, dropping the gun and then Batman backhands him. Jason gets pissed and cuts the Batsymbol on Batman's chest in half, and then chuckles as he does. Batman hadn't implemented a metal plate under the symbol yet with his older costume.

Jason continues to attack hard and fast, managing to get a good slice on Batman's neck, then one in the stomach. He then punches him across the face multiple times, and then Batman slams his head through a window, disrupting a spider web behind the window. The caped crusader blocks Jason's kick, grabs his foot, and twists it. Jason cries out in pain as the Dark Knight throws Jason to the side once again. This time, he kicks him across the face as he lands on the ground with a thud. This knocks off his mask. Jason looks at his mask and feels an increasing rage.

He stays there on the ground now, not getting up. He turns his head away from the mask. From Batman. Shedding a tear. As Batman heads out, Jason feels the need to talk back to him one last time. "Go ahead. Kill him. Do it. He deserves it."

Jason doesn't dare to open to his eyes to look back at Batman. Angry at the thought of him. At the sight of him. "Maybe he'll kill you too."

He shakes his head in disbelief. In disappointment. "I wish you were dead." He mumbles under his breath. He then looks up at Batman as he shouts. "I WISH YOU WERE DEAD!"

Batman can't help but feel a bit of guilt as he looks back down at Jason. As he hangs his head in shame, looking back at the floor tiles. A broken man in anguish. "I'm sorry, Jason." Batman says sincerely. "It was my responsibility to do this a long time ago."

"Get the hell out of here." Jason strikes back, mumbling.

Jason starts to choke up as he hits the floor, shouting, "Get out!"

Batman decides to take him up on his offer, and closes the doors behind him. Leaving behind something terrible. As Jason lies there on the ground, cursing the world. Himself. Batman. "I wish I were dead." Jason says to himself, under his breath. But he has an idea of his own.


	47. Chapter Forty-Seven

Batman arrives at the Tower, and Joker says over the comms. "What a night so far, Bats! Beat a couple convicts senseless. Made a guard kill himself. And you beat up your own Robin! Jason! I thought he was dead?! Oh but you figured, why let me have all the fun, when you can join in, too?"

At this point, Batman is far from annoyed now. He's beyond it. Something deeper than simple rage. Joker thugs await at the Tower, and they start firing real bullets. Considering this is a personnel-only sector of the Asylum, some guards will be more equipped with more protection and more deadly weapons. Only the personnel and Sharp are aware of this. Not Batman. Batman dodges and throws some Batarangs at their eyes. They scream in pain as Batman grabs their heads, and slams their heads onto the ground. He takes the other one and slams his head on top of one of the Batarangs, poking out from the back of their skulls.

By now, Batman is running out of Batarangs, and decides to take the ones from the people he just killed, and puts them back into his belt.He comes across a spiral staircase, and as he ventures into the darkness, only thing that be heard is the crusader's steps on the stairs. Some bats in the distance. And laughing.

Batman finds cobwebs around the stairwell, and many more on the door to the Warden room. He tries to open it, but it's locked. Batman forces it open as he sees the Joker, standing as gleefully as ever. Laughing up a storm. Batman walks up to him as he slams his head onto the control panel as hard as he can, smashing some of the equipment. He then holds him over his head, and slams him onto the ground.

Joker laughs it off as Harley comes behind Batman and whacks him with a mallet. Batman takes a second to recollect himself after the surprise attack, and as Harley gets ready for another swing, the crusader avoids it and elbows the red clown in the gut. Harley heaves over, and in the opening he has, the Dark Knight headbutts her, knocking her down. She laughs as she gets out her pistol. Batman leaps out of the way as he remembers to survey his surroundings. Noting that he's fighting Harley and Joker.

The clown would've gotten a good stab in, but Batman takes Joker's hand and slams his elbow down on his wrist. He elbows him in the cheek, and while his other hand is free, Joker stabs Batman in the side twice. The crusader grabs the Joker's throat and hides behind him to keep Harley from shooting him. And of course, Harley doesn't fire, but Batman does. He shoots the gun out of Harley's hand, but doesn't have the stomach to kill her with a gun. Even if he would be willing to. He'd still have a guilty conscious. Even if he has every reason to believe he helped Joker torment Jason.

Batman tosses the Joker aside, and dismantles the gun. Harley tries to crawl to get the gun that was knocked out of her hand, but Batman tosses a bloody Batarang at her hand. She screams out in pain. In shock. Seeing a sharp object impaling her hand. She then starts to get really pissed and the Joker starts to chuckle. "You're actually using a bloody Batarang! I'm so proud of you!"

Batman then rushes towards Joker, who is ready to stab him as they go through a broken wall, falling down a couple feet to a separate floor. With Batman taking most of the impact. "MR. J!" Harley shouts.

Batman manages to shove Joker off of him, and he has some trouble getting up. The beating from Jason. The bullet wounds. The stab wounds. And falling. As he gets on his hands and knees, Joker takes this as an opportunity to kick Batman while he's down, joking while he does. "You're not looking well, Bats. Maybe you should give up now."

Batman manages to get up and socks Joker in the jaw, and kicks him in the gut. "Hurt him, Mr. J!" Harley shouts from above.

Joker can't counter Batman's fighting style, but he can get him to hit him harder. To make it more enjoyable for himself. "Cmon, Bruce! Your dead mom and dad can hit harder than that!"

This enrages Batman, as Joker predicted. Now it's like being hit by a truck. Joker's only goal is to push Batman to his limits. He manages to get a good stab in and Batman continues to bleed. Stabbing him in the shoulder. The crusader keeps fighting regardless of the pain, even if his body is going to pay the price for it. Batman tries to disable Joker's hand, but then the clown head butts him, punching him in the face afterwards. "You're slipping, Bats! Are you slipping on your own blood, or Jason's? Or whoever else died because of you."

Batman then has had enough of Joker and chops him in the throat. He's still smiling. But then Batman hits him even harder. His smile disappears. He struggles to breathe. His facial muscles weaken. But his eyes still flush with glee. Joker tries to speak, but what comes out is inaudible. Batman hits him again for good measure, and then stabs him in the eye with a Batarang. Coated in someone else's blood. And yet, the Joker still insists on laughing.

Batman grabs him by the jacket and slams him onto the ground, yelling at him. "Do you know why I never killed you?"

Batman grabs him by the throat and continues. "It wasn't to keep myself sane."

The crusader then grips the clown's throat harder now, filled with rage that'll never be satisfied. "Above all else, you could never feel the pain you've caused. But you should've died years ago."

Before he can start pounding on him, he's hit from behind with something metal. He's knocked off of Joker and shot in the chest. Batman turns to see Jason, standing over Joker with a pistol aimed at his head. "I won't let you have all the fun." Jason remarks, talking to Bruce.

Batman is feeling weak now. His vision is getting blurry. His muscles are weak. His mind is clouding up. He grits his teeth as he forces himself to get back up, while he watches Jason beat the clown to a pulp. Batman gets out a Batarang. His last one. He then aims for Jason, but he ends under shot by Harley from above. He turns his attention to Harley, and hopes for the best as he throws the Batarang her way,

Harley ducks and shouts back mockingly. "Ha! Ya missed!"

The Batarang comes back around and stabs Harley in the back, knocking her off the ledge and down to the fighting pit. Being so fragile, she's a lot weaker than Batman was falling down.

Jason gets back up after being knocked down, and then before he knows it, Joker stabs him in the back. Still managing to fight back. Jason grabs the knife and stabs Joker in the heart, twisting it slowly as he watches the life leave in Joker's eye. As Jason smiles, he leaves his peace. "This is how it feels."

He then twists the knife again, faster now. Severing some arteries. He then pushes the knife down, deep into his heart. Jason breathes a sigh of relief, but he still feels empty. He finally rests on the ground, conflicted. Fulfilled, but like a piece like missing.

The silence in the room is heavy, weighing on Jason. On Batman. Jason turns to Batman, seeing him in a lot of pain. Weak. A prime moment for Jason to shoot him dead. So Jason points his gun at Batman, aiming for the head. "Shoot me." Batman demands, bluntly. Glaring at him in disdain. "Do it."

Jason readies the gun as he gets ready to fire. But he holds it there for a moment as he thinks about what he's doing. He drops his arm to his side. Not having the strength to carry out his revenge. He gets up as he looks down on Batman. "I want to get as far away from you as possible." Jason retorts, upset. "Maybe you'll die here. It's what you deserve. Dying alone. Broken. You'll know how it feels."

Jason spits in Batman's direction, with blood mixed in, then he leaves with one last word. "I hope you and Joker rot in hell."

He takes the pistols from the Joker thugs on his way out. Batman lies on the ground. Without the will to live. But he thinks about Joker. About how he's finally dead. He could die here. It could be a suitable death, but a tragic one under the current circumstances. His mind focuses on Jason. Barbara. Dick. Alfred. How he's let them down, and how he won't be able to stop Bane.

His mind gets foggy. Clouded with exhaustion and grief. Waiting for death. Or rather, the strength to fight it.


	48. Chapter Forty-Eight

Batman wakes up in the Batcave at the MedBay with a distressed and peeved off Alfred over him. "I told you to stay back." Alfred comments, coldly. "But of course, you never listen to me." He says as he sighs with regret. "I had to drive to the Asylum and get you. Master Grayson and Miss Gordon wouldn't respond. Master Todd had his own agenda."

Bruce sees some fear in Alfred's eyes, as Bruce is worried that he had to go to great lengths to save him. Hating it had to come to that. "I wouldn't let you die there."

Alfred's hand starts to shake as he holds it, trying to steady it. "The things I saw. Worrying about you. About Master Jodd. I can't fathom doing this again. The paramedics came shortly after I left."

His other hand starts to shake now, and Bruce now tries to get out of the restraints again. Alfred turns around and holds Bruce's hands as he shouts. "Just stop!"

"There are people that need me!"

"And they can wait! I need you!"

Alfred grips Bruce's hands tighter as his start to shake some more. "Stay here! It's far too dangerous!"

Alfred closes his eyes as he can't stand to look at Bruce. As a tear falls down his cheek, his lip quivers as he tries to say something. "You should never have had to do this any of this."

Bruce looks at Alfred in remorse. "I'm sorry." He starts. "But sacrifices have to be made."

Alfred's grip on Bruce's hands isn't exactly strong enough, and Bruce continues to work the restraints. Trying to unbuckle himself. But Alfred put them higher up on Bruce's body so he wouldn't get out as easily.

Alfred slams his hands down on Bruce's chest, shouting. "Stop!"

Bruce ignores him. "Stop!!"

Bruce ignores him still. Then Alfred gets fed up and slams his fists on Bruce's chest, shouting as loud as he can. "STOP!!"

This startles the bats that were asleep, causing them to flutter about as Alfred steps back, holding his chest as he has another heart attack. He falls to his back, failing to maintain his balance. As he tries to force himself to stay awake, he quickly fails. Unable to do anything as he passes out.

Bruce watches Alfred fall, staring at his unconscious body. Feeling broken. Helpless. Eventually, he gets through the restraints and picks up Alfred's body, putting it on the table, hooking him up to a machine. But instead of a heartbeat, he sees a flatline. Bruce starts to panic. He grabs a defibrillator and shocks Alfred multiple times, hoping to wake him up. After a number of tries, Alfred finally wakes up. Coughing. Catching his breath. Bruce stands over Alfred in shock. He can't look at Alfred right now. He can only hang his head in shame.

He steps away from the table, puts his mask back on, and gets in the Batmobile. But as he stands on the hood, Alfred beckons to Bruce. "Bruce.."

Batman stands tall and terrifying, turning around to answer to Alfred. His dedicated surrogate father. "This is my fight. Stay out of my way."

His voice ominous with his modifier. But it's like something else speaks when Bruce does too. He then gets inside the Batmobile, and speeds away, leaving Alfred behind. He won't say it himself, but perhaps death comes with or without him. Accepting this is how his life will be. This crusade, by himself. As the only thing that works.

His first objective is to go by Wayne Enterprises again, and look for a gadget to override the computers in the AA defense, or rather, craft one. Lucius is gone. So he'll do it himself.

He still sees the dead bodies from last time he came here. He ignores them as he gets to business. He also makes sure to craft more explosive gel while he's at it. Sharpens some Batarangs and his gauntlet blades. Adds more protection to his suit. Implements more technological improvements.

Finally, after hours of work, he's finished. So he goes topside again as he heads to a nearby vantage point to observe the AA defenses to weaken their hold on Gotham.


	49. Chapter Forty-Nine

At the precinct, Evan is packing his things, failing to convince anyone he didn't say what he said. Sharp accompanies him as he gets his stuff, and doesn't say anything. Evan has a suspicion about Sharp still, and he intends to investigate when he has the chance. Which he hopes will be soon.

"Evan," Sharp finally speaks, "there's still one thing you have to do."

Evan gives him a angry look. "What?"

"You have to dismantle the Batsymbol." Sharp replies.

Evan turns his gaze away from Sharp as he reminds him. "Did you think I'd forget?"

Evan turns his gaze back to Sharp, conflicted. He doesn't have an answer. But Sharp requests one. So Evan answers. "I guess, I thought...things would get better."

Sharp tries to comfort him, realizing the gravity of the situation. "We all do."

Sharp and Evan walk out of the GCPD, and Evan doesn't get any sympathy from the officers. Harry watches him go, and can't help but wave goodbye.

A storm starts to brew over Gotham, and the two head to their cars. Evan waits for Sharp to get a head start on the highway before he decides to follow him. To remain inconspicuous. He waits a couple minutes before he heads to Quincy's house, and then puts the pedal to the metal. He goes towards another entrance to Sharp's house, and finds it's locked.

He figured it'd be locked, but he gets out his credit card and shimmies it between the door. It takes a few minutes, but Evan manages to get in. Of course, he'll have to get a new credit card. If he manages to leave, that is.

He locks the door back, put his card back in his wallet, and gets his gun out. Screw warrants, Evan thinks. He looks around a couple rooms and sees Sharp, walking down a hallway. A secret passage. A bookshelf opening. Evan rushes to the passage, quietly. The opening is about to close, and Evan tosses his badge towards it. The passage tries to close, and then it starts to slowly open up. Evan gets back his badge, thankful he hadn't thrown it away yet. Now he won't have a way to get back out. Sharp has turned on the lights in the hallway so he can see the steps leading to whatever is below.

Evan sees symbols on the walls. Something evil. Evan fashions himself as a sort of a hotshot, but right now, he's actually scared. But he keeps his cool. Sharp gets to the end of the flight of stairs first, and turns the lights off behind him. Evan now has to feel the steps. But he saw a door below the flight of stairs before the lights faded. He hears chants from the other side of the door. Ominous. Foreign. Some of it indistinguishable.

Evan finally makes it to the door, but he hides behind it so he can hear everything. He peeps through the cracks in between the doors, and can only make out people dressed in ritualistic uniforms. People with swords. Fire. Guards. Assassins. Then the door is covered by a guard. Evan can only now assert what's happening through sound. Then everything is silenced. Until a woman exclaims. "Praise to the great Ra's Al Ghul!"

Evan is terrified. Now he knows what he's dealing with. Ra's attacked Gotham once, and Batman manages to stop him. Evan saw what happened. What they were capable of. And he has no chance of thwarting their plans. Nor can he even blink without getting his head popped off. What the hell are you doing, Sharp? Evan thinks.

Evan feels inadequate with his measly pistol. "You came alone, yes?" Ra's says to what Evan thinks is Sharp.

"Yes, my lord."

Evan would be angry, but he's more terrified now. "I presume operations are on schedule?"

"Yes, my lord. We're strengthening our hold on Gotham City. Phase two is near completion."

"Excellent."

Evan may be scared, but he has to do something. He steels himself as he prepares to do the insane. He kicks down the door, pointing his gun at Sharp, shouting. "Asshole!!"

Before he can fire, Talia comes up behind him and quickly incapacitates Evan, putting him in a painful position as she shouts to the non-believer. "Blasphemer! You dare threaten the great Ra's Al Ghul?!"

Talia has her blade against Evan's throat, and she would've killed him then and there, but Ra's wanted him alive. "You said you came here alone?" Ra's angrily asks Sharp.

"I-I did!" Sharp stutters. "What are you doing here?!" He now shouts to Evan.

Evan is too angry to speak, and perhaps frightened, as well. One wrong breath, and his head will be killed off his shoulders. "Yes." Ra's remarks as his eyes are filled with discontent. Staring into Evan's soul. "What is your purpose here?"

Evan struggles to speak but Talia raises her blade up a little bit against Evan's throat, pulling his arm up. Evan grunts as the pain strikes like a bullet. But then the thought hits him. "You never enacted a law for stronger justice procedures because you're working with this freak!"

Talia pulls Evan's arm up higher now, almost dislocating it and Evan grunts in pain. She closes the gap between her sword and Evan's throat, and Ra's lets her have her fun. After a while, Ra's raises his hand to signal Talia to stop. Drops of blood starts to trickle down from Evan's throat, and a little smile starts to form at the side of Ra's lips, and he congratulates Evan. "You're brave."

He then returns to his dower demeanor as he looks into Evan's eyes, coldly informing. "But you won't leave here alive."

Evan struggles to speak as Talia hasn't moved her blade or her arm, lifting up Evan's. He feels a sense of helplessness. An acceptance of death. "But why?" He asks. "Why would you do this?"

Ra's chuckles as he implies. "Spoken like a man who will take his questions to the grave."

Talia then removes the blade from Evan's throat, and in one swift sweep, she chops off Evan's head. Blood spews everywhere as Evan's body still stands, as Talia managed to cut off his head in one quick swoop. "Get him out of here." Ra's commands to his men, as he turns to Sharp, rendered speechless as he witnessed the brutal execution.

"Afraid?"

Sharp can barely mutter a word, but when Ra's asks, "Are you questioning your allegiance?"

Sharp looks at Evan's body as men drag it out of the chamber, and then he looks at Ra's. Stuttering. "N-no." He clears his throat. "No." He repeats, firmly.

Ra's doesn't acknowledge it, but he goes along with it. "Choose carefully, Mr. Sharp."

Sharp nods back in approval as Ra's sighs, disappointed at the intrusion. "You may leave." He tells Sharp. He does, and Sharp leaves the secret passage. Daring not to imagine what Ra's will have his men do to Evan's body. Shivering at the thought. He pushes a panel and pretends he's safe behind the bookshelf. Behind a barrier. He stands behind the bookshelf, catching his breath. Sweating. His face stuck in a sense of terror, once out of Ra's presence. Left with a single thought "What have I done?"


	50. Chapter Fifty

While Evan was busy investigating Sharp's mischievous deeds, Batman was preparing to fight back the militaristic hold Bane had on Gotham. But as he left Wayne Enterprises, he was greeted with a message on his Batcomputer in his car.

 **-TRANSMISSION AVAILABLE-**

The screen turns to static and Batman watches. Soon, the static turns to a crystal clear picture. Then he sees a Bane broadcasting to him. "Mr. Wayne." Bane said, almost mockingly.

Batman's face furrowed into a demented gaze. "What the hell are you doing?" Batman growled.

Bane looks amused that the knight doesn't know the answer. But he gives a tease. "One of your friends."

This sends Batman into a frenzy. His mind thinking of all the things he could've done to them. Whichever one it was. Bane says it was a man in blue, and that his men found his mask drifting along the pier. The crusader dies inside.

"But there is a way you could save him." Bane adds, gleefully. Only a little more than his usual dead tone.

Batman is growing impatient and he snarls back. "What do you want?"

"A rematch. You only won because of your gadgets. But this time, we will see who is the better man. I fight without my Venom, and you fight without your gadgets. And when you get here, take off your mask. I already know what lies underneath. There will be no need to hide it."

"Where?" Batman questioned, ready to take the chance to kill him. Still a little bruised from Arkham.

"Underground in the sewer system. You won't run away this time. If you get here in time, perhaps your friend will be spared. Or say your goodbye."

Bane turns the view around to Dick, beaten up with guns pointed at him. The screen goes black and Batman hears gunshots. "NO!" Batman shouts.

He kicks the gas as hard as he can, sure he'd break it if he hit it any harder. Not caring if he runs into any cars or people. He can't let another Robin die. He rams into convoys, tearing them apart. His adrenaline pumps at an unusual rate as his heart pumps even faster. His muscles tight with anticipation. And fear. His fists locked on the wheel.

The Dark Knight arrives and runs down below the surface at the sewage maintenance tunnel. He runs past workers, shoving them aside. In his mad sprint, everyone wonders what he's in such a hurry for, but they don't question him because it's Batman. And because they don't know if he'd punch them in the face, considering how he's been acting so far. He sees Bane soldiers guarding a door, and they open it for him. "See you in Hell." One of them remarks.

They then close the door shut, and walk away. Now, Batman faces Bane on fair terms. And he can finish this. "The mask." Bane starts, coldly.

Batman shoots him an angry glare as he takes off his mask, and then he lets it drop to the ground. "Where is he?" Batman asks about Dick.

"He's not here." Bane answers, cocky.

Batman's heart sinks and his adrenaline rises. "Where is he?!" He shouts now.

"Finish me, and you will know."

He taps the comms in his ear and is about to call Alfred, but remembers what happened when he left, and that he likely won't answer. No Dick. No Barbara. Jason. Alfred. Lucius. He's all alone. His fists fall to his side, and he gets ready for the fight. Ready to die. Bane takes off his jacket, sporting a bulletproof vest and muscles that could wrap Batman into a headlock and snap his neck.

"How the hell do you know my name?" Bruce says, angrily.

Bane walks towards him, and then Bruce follows afterwards. Bruce clenches his fists until he feels his nails could dig through the gloves and stab the palms of his hands. Bane looked confident and strong, but Bruce looked broken and aggravated. "Do you you pray, Batman?" Bane asks before the battle begins.

"I've never needed it." Batman answers back.

"Now, would be a good time to start."

And as they met, the fight began.

Bruce swung the first punch, and Bane lets him have his fun hitting bricks. Batman swings as hard and as furiously as he can, hitting Bane's shoulder and hip bones. Anywhere that can disable motor functions, but it's not doing much at this point. The knight imagines that continued strikes could prove successful, but how successful is the question. Bane finally decides to fight back. He grabs Batman's fist, jerks him forward as he head butts him. He knees him in the stomach, and then kicks him down a small flight of stairs. Batman gets back up, hastily. He dodges a punch from Bane as he tries to strike the behemoth in the ribs. What he lacks in strength, he can make up for in speed at least.

The knight kept hitting Bane in pivotal points, but to no avail as of yet. Batman thinks the Venom use just hardened his skin, or he might really be this strong by himself. Bane backs Batman into a corner and slams his head into the wall, and then delivers a flurry of punches. The crusader tries to take a swipe at Bane's throat, but he dodges. The giant grabbed Batman's arm and almost attempted to snap it, but the Dark Knight kicks him aside as hard as he can. Knocking him back a couple feet. Bane then kicks Batman into a wall, causing debris from earlier to fall off.

Bane takes a jab at Batman's ribs, feeling a great sting of pain. The crusader then exchanged another attack as he stood his ground, swiping up on Bane's face, cutting his mask. Not quite cutting his face. The giant swung a hit in the crusader's face, almost breaking his face. Batman kicked him again in the kneecap, and Bane let out a muffled grunt. It hurt, but barely. Bane grabs Batman by the throat, and slams him against a metal fence, overlooking where water is being poured down a drain, and lots of it. Batman head butts Bane and knocks him back a little.

The crusader dodges as Bane goes in for a strike, smashing a metal bar on the fence, almost dislodging it. Batman gets the metal bar and uses it to his advantage. He starts swinging it as hard as his battered limbs will allow, and as carefully as he can. Bane, of course, is fast, and some of Bruce's efforts are met with retaliation.

Bane swings a punch, and Batman backflips away from him, jumping off a wall, using the momentum to charge towards the giant and kicks with great force. This manages to slightly stagger Bane, and he chuckles. "Admirable effort," He starts, grabbing Batman's fist before it connects. "But mistaken."

Bane elbows the crusader in the face, leaving him open for an attack as he staggers. The giant grabs Batman's head and swings him to his side almost effortlessly. Bane casually strolls towards Batman, as the vigilante has trouble getting back on his feet. "Stand and fight. Your life isn't the only one at stake."

Batman's adrenaline takes over as he gets back to his feet and continues the fight. Bane swings as Batman dodges it, punching the giant in the ribs, trying to kick his feet apart. He uppercuts him, and dodges as Bane swings another punch. The knight then kicks Bane in the abdomen as hard as he can, but he was expecting this. The behemoth grabs Batman's foot, and before Bane can do anything, the crusader swings his leg up and kicks the giant across the jaw, staggering him.

But after this, this is the only real hit Batman can land. Bane was observing him. Every hit is met with retaliation, and the knight is draining fast when he's been found out. And he knows this. But Batman continues to persist, trying what he can to stop Bane, realizing what's at stake. Sadly, the adrenaline can only hold him for so long. "Your life is fleeting, Mr. Wayne." Bane retorts as he mocks Batman, using his last name in a demeaning manner. "You were supposed to be better than this."

Batman is on his hands and knees. His breathing slowed. His vision blurry. Muscles weak. "All those years of training, and this, is what comes of it."

Batman wipes the blood from his nose, spitting out blood from his mouth. He keeps trying to push himself up, but Bane kicks him in the side, knocking him down again. "Weak!" Bane kicks him again, and again. He picks him up and then throws him against a wall, pounding on him to egg him on to keep fighting. To give him a fight. "Fight!" Bane shouts.

Batman obliges and tries what he can, though poorly. Bane counters the weak attempts and then he proceeds to pound on him more. Batman keeps trying, regardless of the pain. Even if it kills him. Or even if his efforts are of Alfred. Dick. Barbara. Jason. Everyone. This keeps driving him, and hasn't stopped since he came in. But his iron will to focus on him coming out on top begins to fade as the fight draws to a close. And is overwhelmed by dread that he can't save them. That they can't save themselves. All the broken bones can't compare to the pain on the inside. Bane barely has a scratch on him. Only sign of Batman's effort is a torn mask that Bane has chosen to rip off himself. For Batman, his blood is everywhere.

He lies on the ground, barely a man. A husk of what was a man. Almost dead on the ground. "Gotham needs a new savior." Bane comments, confident. But with a hint of something sinister. "Your passing will not be mourned."

 _I'm sorry, Alfred._ Batman thinks. As he can feel his world breaking. He looks up to Bane, and he then feels himself being lifted up in the air. "Your city, belongs to me!"

He then feels himself being thrusted downwards at incredible speed, then a sharp, impossible pain shoots through his body as he feels his back break on Bane's knee. Rolling down from Bane's knee, and onto the ground with a thud. The last thing Batman heard was the snapping sound of his spine, and then, silence. The juggernaut stands over the dead man's body, and then kicks him down another flight of stairs as he heads for the exit. Detonating the charges planted in the room behind him, leaving behind a pile of rubble. And as he returns to the surface, the dead bodies of the workers are being disposed of and stuffed into a room. As the soldiers follow behind Bane. And now, the end is nigh.


End file.
